Glass Hearts: the Beginning of the End
by coolpearls
Summary: The beginning of the war, the end of innocence. MWPP, Lily, 1978-1979.
1. Chapter 1: The Order

**Title: **Glass Hearts: The Beginning of the End

**Rating: **PG-13

**Spoilers:** All books.

**Genre:** General, Romance, Humor.

**Era:** 1970-1981.

**Main Characters:** MWPP, Lily.

**Ships:** James/Lily, Remus/Marlene McKinnon, Sirius/OC

**Summary (for chapter):** Officially out of Hogwarts, the Marauders start to fix up a shack for a place to live. They have their first meeting with the Order of the Phoenix and quickly become busy with the war.

**A/N: **This is a sequel to Glass Hearts: the Sixth and Seventh Year, but you don't have to have read those to follow along with this story. The war has gotten serious during sixth and seventh year. Lily and James got together in October of their seventh year. Remus and Marlene McKinnon went out for a short time, and Sirius was with Jewel Mufflet for the better part of two years, but they didn't end up working out. At the end of seventh year, James proposed, and McGonagall asked the gang to join the Order of the Phoenix.

* * *

Remus was usually fairly good at controlling his facial expressions, but he couldn't hide his disgust. The shack was worse than the Shrieking Shack. The overgrown plants hid the bottom half. There was no door; Remus could see part of the inside. The glass on the windows was either broken or completely gone. The neighborhood they stood in was rundown. Despite all of these things, the look of excitement on Sirius's face out-did the entire seventh year on the last day of school.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Sirius said breathlessly.

Remus looked at Peter and James, who seemed as baffled as he did. Sirius, oblivious to his friends' responses, walked up the cobblestone pathway. He overstepped weeds and overgrown vines. James shrugged as if to say, 'What the hell?' and went after him. Remus reluctantly followed.

Inside, the old termite-eaten wood was covered in dust. The only piece of furniture was a rickety rocking chair. "How long has it been since someone lived here?" Remus asked.

"Who knows," Peter said. A rat scuttled across the ground to a hole in the wall.

James scratched his head, looking around. "You bought this place already?" he asked Sirius.

"It's awesome, huh?" Sirius said.

Remus shook his head. Definitely not the best idea Sirius had had.

Over the next week, the four of them poured their energy into the shack. They started on the outside and slowly moved towards the inside. Being in a Muggle neighborhood forced them to use magic carefully. Sirius didn't really care, and Remus would smile and wave at Muggles awkwardly, then kick Sirius in the shin. James skipped out every now and then, hanging out with Lily.

"Oh, look who decided to join us," Sirius said when James returned after a few hours on the third day. Sirius's black hair was lighter with dirt, and his jeans had grass stains on them. The plants were almost gone, but the grass still needed work.

"Hey," James said.

"I think he should sleep on the couch," Sirius told Remus.

"Lily's mum invited me over for lunch," James said defensively.

"Why don't you bring Lily here to help us?" Sirius asked.

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," he said. "I'm not showing her this place."

"Why not?" Sirius said indignantly.

The small house slowly returned to normal. Mr. and Mrs. Potter gave them a few pieces of furniture. James fixed the toilet and shower on the fourth day. Remus replaced the windows while Sirius replanted the grass. Peter boarded up the holes in the walls and floors. Lily came sooner than James would have liked, but she liked it. She patted Sirius on the back, saying, "It's not too bad."

Remus's parents wanted to see where he went all the time. His mum brought them a set of towels, wishing them the best of luck.

Sirius began sleeping there as soon as he had a bed. After a long day of work, the four of them would sit in the living room, James hogging the old couch Mrs. Potter had given them. They drank firewhiskey and talk about the _Prophet _that day or when the Order would contact them or the Auror tests in July. James told them what he had heard from eavesdropping on his dad or who Lily saw at St. Mungo's. They would doze off, thoughts of war in their heads. Remus would wonder where they would be in one year, dead or half-dead, together or separated. Then he would fall into sleep, his dreams full of darkness.

* * *

Sirius threw his Daily Prophet up against the wall. "This is ridiculous," he said. He leaned back on the couch, digging his hands into his hair.

"They said they'd contact us when they needed us," Lily said calmly.

"It's been three weeks!" Sirius exclaimed. She didn't get it; Lily didn't get anything. Another death in the Daily Prophet, this time a Muggleborn who had been in the year above them. How long would it take for the Order to contact them? There hadn't been a word since they had joined on the last day of school. He no longer had the shack to distract him - it was clean, full of furniture and all of their things, it even had the approval of Mrs. Potter and Lily.

"Maybe they've got enough people," Remus said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well, people are still dying," he said.

"Maybe we should contact them," James suggested.

This had crossed Sirius's head many times. He had often started letters to Dumbledore, then ripped them up and threw them away. He wondered where he could find Frank Longbottom, but wasn't completely sure he was even a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He had to be, though.

"Don't worry," Lily said, looking up from her magazine. "When they need us, they'll find us."

"Do you even want to fight?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I do," Lily replied with a glare.

Sirius rolled his eyes again, looking away from her. Didn't she have work today? Who invited her over here, anyway? He looked at Peter, who was playing chess with Remus, but who was now biting his nails, probably thinking about all the horrible ways one could die at the hands of a Death Eater.

"James, you want to go practice defence spells?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," James said.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked, looking at James.

"This field by my house," James said. "We'll be back in a few hours."

"Do you still want to go to dinner?"

Sirius made a face, taking out his wand and twirling it around with his fingers. "Prongs, I'll just meet you there," he said.

Peter looked at Sirius with wide eyes. "What did you call him?" Lily asked.

"Prongs," Sirius said, "it's a nickname from his Patronus. We can call you Doey, do you like that?"

Lily crinkled up her nose. "No, thanks," she said.

* * *

The next morning, Sirius woke up to an owl. He sleepily took the letter from the owl, who hooted and then flew away.

_Hey! It's Frank. You guys want to go to The Three Broomsticks tonight? I need a break from training, so let's hang out. Bring Lily, too, Alice is going to meet us. I'll be there around nine. See you there!_

He dropped the letter on the ground and dozed off again.

That night, the seven of them sat around a table at The Three Broomsticks, firewhiskeys and butterbeers in front of all of them. Frank's hair had grown longer, his curls falling to his chin. "You ready for your tests next week?" he asked.

"I think so," Sirius said. He thought about the tips he had gotten from Marlene's brothers a few days ago - be relaxed, prepared for anything, confident.

"Have you seen Kingsley at all?" Alice asked.

Sirius shook his head, rolling his eyes a little bit. Last he heard, he and Jewel were going out. "You know who else is testing?" he asked Frank.

"A few people," Frank said. "I think there are twelve altogether."

"Not too many," James said.

Frank let out a small chuckle. "Well, it's not the most popular job these days," he said. He nodded to Lily. "How's St. Mungo's?"

"I like it," Lily said. "I'll go into Healer training in September."

"What are you doing now?" Alice asked.

"I'm an assistant," Lily said. "I basically do anything they need me to. I work best with the Charms, though."

"Have you met Dorcas Meadowes?" Frank asked the group of them.

The name wasn't familiar to Sirius. According to the looks on his friends' faces, they didn't know her, either. "I think she's going to drop by tonight," Frank said. He glanced around the pub casually. "She'll let you know how things work. You know, communication, meetings."

Sirius felt his heartbeat quicken. He picked up his firewhiskey to take a drink. A look of realization came onto Peter's face when he caught on to what Frank was talking about. Frank took his wand out and performed a few spells quietly. The air seemed to change as the conversation shifted.

"Everyone does different things," Frank said with a shrug. "Like Moody, he's in charge of the Aurors. No one really knows what everyone does, though, except for Dumbledore. It's just safer that way. We protect a lot of people – like the Minister and his family. We find Death Eaters to get information about You-Know-Who and what he's planning on doing next. Everything is to stop You-Know-Who's plans and to find a way to kill him."

"What are his plans?" Remus asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Well, he's got all the allies he needs," Frank said. "Giants, dementors, veelas, werewolves, banshees, most of the purebloods. He's got the fear, too, he knows that a lot of people aren't going to fight back. So he's taking out the ones who do. In the last week, we lost two Aurors."

"McCormick and Harrison," Sirius said. Lily glanced at him, a frown on her face.

Frank nodded.

"I can't believe Harrison's death," Alice said, shaking her head. The _Prophet _hadn't posted the pictures, but Lily said she'd seen them in her boss's office. She told the boys that the Death Eaters had left him naked in his study for his wife to find him.

Sirius raised his firewhiskey. The others followed suit, and they drank in silence.

"Peter, you're working at the _Prophet_ this fall, aren't you?" Frank asked.

Peter nodded. "My mum's got me some desk job," he said with a shrug.

"Good," Frank said. "Sometimes the press doesn't let out stories that happen. We usually end up hearing about it, but you can tell us about stories that they don't publish. Or details they don't let out. And photographers are always taking pictures. Then there are stories that are better unpublished, you know? But Dorcas will tell you more about it tonight."

Peter cleared his throat, staring down at his butterbeer. "Oh, okay," he said.

"And having someone in at St. Mungo's will help, too," Frank said to Lily. "Some people don't report attacks because the Death Eaters threaten them or their family."

"What do you do?" Lily asked, putting her elbows on the table.

"A lot of things," Frank said. He looked around the pub again, Alice looking concerned. "Have you learned how to send your Patronus to another?"

"I've seen that spell," Lily said, "but I haven't tried it."

"It's a really easy way to communicate between members," Frank said. "You can send a Patronus with a message to someone else if you've seen their Patronus."

"That's cool," James said.

Alice looked over her shoulder towards the door of the pub, which had just opened. A few men had just walked in. Frank watched them casually, putting his wand on the table. "But anyways, maybe we should show each other Patroni," he said. "Where do you guys live?"

"The four of us have a shack down in Bristol," Sirius said. "Lily lives in Surrey."

The group of men walked over to the table behind them. Sirius recognized one of them. He leaned towards James and whispered in his ear, "It's Rosier."

James met his eyes, then looked over his shoulder discreetly. He scratched the back of his head, sitting up straight. Remus seemed to catch on to the negative feeling. "Maybe we should go to the shack now," he suggested.

Frank picked up his wand. "All right," he said.

"We're leaving?" Peter asked.

The group of them stood up, getting ready to leave. Sirius almost wanted the three Death Eaters to stop them. He met Rosier's eyes as he walked by, knocking the end of their table. He followed James to the door. Frank shook the curls out of his eyes. "That was weird," he said. "I wonder if they intercepted the owl."

"You think they know we're members?" James asked, nodding to the pub.

"Well, Rosier knows you wouldn't think twice," Frank said. "And other Death Eaters."

"Who else -" Sirius began.

"Maybe we should go to your house now," Lily said.

"Oh, right," Sirius said.

They Apparated to their shack. They sat around the living room and kitchen, drinking more, talking about the war, the Death Eaters, the Order. Frank taught them how to send their Patronus with a message. He looked tired by midnight. "How about we do something fun," he said. "I'm sick of talking about the war."

"Let's play drinking games," James said, a grin coming onto his face.

When Dorcas came by an hour later, Peter was asleep, and Sirius was showing Frank how to dance the macarena. Lily shook her head, introducing herself to Dorcas. She had thick black hair and olive skin. "They got bored of the war," Lily explained.

"I can't imagine what that's like, " Dorcas said with a smirk.

"So, Frank said you were going to tell us more stuff about the Order?" Lily asked.

Alice walked over to the two of them. "Dorcas?" she asked.

"You must be Alice," Dorcas said. "Frank talks about you so much."

Alice smiled, blushing a little bit. "Yeah, I'm Alice."

Dorcas looked over at the guys. Frank and Sirius were both doing the macarena together, too drunk to even acknowledge Dorcas. Remus and James sat on the couch, whispering to each other. They both burst out laughing at something James said. "So, how about the three of us talk for now?" Dorcas asked.

* * *

Lily sat at her desk, massaging her temples. She had had this headache all day long. The tedious paperwork at St. Mungo's hadn't helped. Her mum had been sick all week, and Lily hadn't realize how much her mum did around the house. And the wedding was only two months away. Her and James had agreed on something small and simple, but she still needed her dress, and she still wanted to send a few formal invitations out. She shook her head before her mind got ahead of herself.

She looked down at the letter she was sending to Dorcas. She had been assigned to tell Dorcas of all the Dark Magic injuries that came through St. Mungo's throughout her work day. She had a list of a few people, but she was worried there were people that she hadn't seen.

The last week and a half since they had met with Frank and Dorcas had been hectic. Lily was sending letters to Dorcas everyday. James, Sirius, and Alice had started their Auror testing two days ago. Lily had hardly seen James; he was either at the Ministry or sleeping. She wasn't sure where Remus and Peter were, but in the letter she had sent Lily, Dorcas said they were working hard at the Order headquarters.

Lily knew she just needed to get a good night's sleep, but she was meeting with the Order that night. Her stomach fluttered; their first real Order meeting. She finished the letter to Dorcas and sent it off with her owl.

July seemed to inch by. Lily was working at St. Mungo's while trying to plan for the wedding. Her mum seemed to get worse and worse. There were a few attacks, but Lily wasn't asked to help during any of them. James came by her house at one in the morning after he, Sirius, and Remus fought in Diagon Alley with a group of other Order members.

"You're all right?" Lily asked for what was probably the twentieth time.

"Yeah," James said. "Fabian's at St. Mungo's, but everyone else is fine, though."

"How many were there?" Lily asked.

"Six of us, seven of them," James said.

"I would have come if you would have sent a Patronus to me," Lily said.

James just nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said. "Don't worry about it, though. I just wanted to. . .I mean, there were so many times. . .I'm just really glad I'm marrying you in September."

Lily smiled. "Me, too," she said. She leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too," James said. He looked down at Lily's twin-sized bed. "I can't wait until we can sleep together in a really nice bed."

"You don't like this bed?" Lily asked, smirking. The two of them were trying to pull furniture together for their new place, wherever that would be. James kept telling Lily he was looking for a flat somewhere, but Lily didn't know when he had time. She took James's hand. "I can't wait, either."

James kissed her on the lips. He set her forehead against hers, squeezing her hand. "Do you want to stay here tonight?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," James said.

* * *

Sometimes Marlene wished she had born in a different year. She wasn't looking forward to her seventh year without Lily and Mary. She could tell that most of her friends were in on something, something that they weren't telling her. Marlene had dropped subtle hints about it to Lily, but she decided being blunt would be the best way.

They got a seat at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, carrying their sundaes. Lily had bags under her eyes. "You look tired," Marlene said.

"I think I'm working too much," Lily said, shaking her head.

"At St. Mungo's?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah," Lily said. She paused, looking up from the strawberry that sat in her spoon. "Where else?"

Marlene shrugged. "You tell me, miss mysterious."

Lily let out a laugh. "What?"

"Oh, come on," Marlene said. "You and James and all the rest of them. What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just work and stuff," Lily said, her eyes on her ice cream.

Marlene rolled her eyes. Lily was a pretty good liar, and if Marlene had been asking about anything else, she probably would have believed her. "Whatever, you guys suck," Marlene said.

Lily was quiet in response. Marlene ate her ice cream silently. The sun was setting, and the evening breeze was beginning to blow lightly. "Don't worry about it," Lily said. "We'll let you in on it in a year."

"A _year_?" Marlene repeated. "Come on!"

"Come on nothing," Lily said in a serious tone. "Marlene, I don't want to talk about it."

Marlene made a face. "I disown you."

"It's no big deal, I just don't want to talk about it," Lily said. She looked out towards the rest of Diagon Alley. "Just enjoy your seventh year."

Marlene scoffed. Yes, enjoy your seventh year, Marlene. Your family and friends will all be in danger, fighting everyday, putting their necks on the line while you happily finish your NEWTs. "Disowned," she said shortly.

Lily shook her head, her mind somewhere else.

After a few moments of silence, Lily said, "This ice cream is so good. I want to get another one."

"Me, too," Marlene said with a laugh.

* * *

**A/N: **Kind of a depressing title, but it's true :( Please review if you enjoyed it!

Next chapter: a member of the Order needs Lily's help to save his life.


	2. Chapter 2: Poison

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Lily is called to the Order of the Phoenix to save someone's life.

* * *

Before Lily knew it, it was August. James, Sirius, and Alice had passed the Aurors tests - no one had any doubt that they would. They had the month off before training officially began, and Lily knew the three of them would be with the Order as much as they were needed.

One evening early in the month, Alice came to Lily's for dinner. "Thanks for inviting me," she said. "It's nice to know life can be normal like this."

Lily smiled, stirring the stew on the stove. "Yeah," she said. "So, hey, my mum has been sick for a while. I didn't think she'd be able to eat with us, but she's out of bed today. I just don't want you to think it's weird that she's in her pajamas or anything."

"Oh, of course not," Alice said, shaking her head.

Lily's mum came downstairs wearing comfortable clothes. "Hello, Alice," she said, her voice hoarse.

"Hello, Rose," Alice said. "Lily said you've been sick for a wihle."

"Yes," Rose said, sitting at the kitchen table. "Nearly a month. The doctors can't quite figure out what it is."

Lily bit her lip. "Mum, maybe you should visit St. Mungo's."

Rose sighed. "We'll see," she said, waving her hand.

The three of them sat down at the table with stew and bread. Lily's dad came home from work. He came to the table to kiss Rose on the cheek. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Good," Rose said with a smile. "Come eat with us."

Edward nodded to Alice and Lily, then walked upstairs to change. "But really, mum," Lily said. "I think the Healers could help."

"Don't worry about it, Lily," Rose said. "The medicine I'm on now is helping."

"Hardly," Lily said, narrowing her eyes.

"Aren't there laws about secrecy and such?"

"Yeah, but I've been working there all summer and last summer, too. I know all the Healers there and -"

Suddenly, a flash of silver cut Lily off. A boxer Patronus said in an urgent tone, "Lily, we need you at Headquarters right away!"

"What was that?" Rose asked.

Lily stood up. "It was Dorcas," she said, her mind racing over all the horrible possibilities. "I'm sorry, mum, but we have to go."

"It was nice seeing you again," Alice said as she picked up her jacket.

"Well, be careful!" Rose exclaimed as they left.

Lily led Alice up the steps. "Dad, Alice and I have to go," she called from her room. "We'll see you soon!" She looked at Alice. "We can Apparate from in here."

Alice nodded, looking serious. "I'll go first," Lily said. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and Disapparated.

She Apparated into the middle of the caves that served as the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. There was a small commotion on the table across from the fireplace. Lily ran over; there were three people surrounding Caleb Dearborn, who was bleeding from the head.

"Lily," Dorcas exclaimed, "we can't take him to St. Mungo's. There's a warrant out for his arrest, and Malfoy really wants him."

Lily pushed past Gideon Prewett, taking her wand out. "What happened?" she asked.

"I didn't see it," Gideon said. His left eye was swollen and his shirt was torn. "We were outnumbered by the time I saw him, I just grabbed him and got out of there."

The wound was deep, and it traveled from the top of his forehead down to the middle of his ear. It was evident it was a magical wound. "He's lost a lot of blood," Lily said, looking at his stained shirt. She Conjured up a towel and began dabbing his head. "This is deep, too."

She Conjured up some dittany. She applied it to the wound. Suddenly, Caleb started shaking. "What's going on?" Caleb's brother Caradoc asked from the other side of the table.

Blood started to come out of Caleb's mouth. "What the hell is going on?" Caradoc yelled.

"I don't know," Lily exclaimed. "Is he allergic to dittany?"

Caleb began coughing, blood splurting up out onto his chin. "Oh, shit," Lily said. She performed a spell to calm his nerves, but he continued shaking. She moved the tip of her wand to the wound and removed the dittany. He slowly stopped coughing and his body stilled. "Shit. . ."

Lily Conjured up a bowl of water. She started to clean the wound with the towel. She moved the tip of her wand to the top of the wound and started to mend it together. She could see how the magic had worked on the skin. She heard the voices around her, but she tried not to listen to what was going on around her. She concentrated on Caleb, trying to feel his cells through her magic.

Slowly, the wound began to close. Without the dittany, his skin was scarring. She made sure that it was clean inside. With certain spells, Caleb would jump, but Caradoc put his hand on his shoulder, calming him. She wasn't sure about the magical implications of the wound. If she knew more about the spell. . .

Finally, the wound was a slightly pink line of raised skin. She finished cleaning off the blood. "He should be all right, unless the spell was a poisonous form of Sectumsempra," she said.

"What happens if it was?" Caradoc asked.

Lily frowned, remembering the last patient who was the victim of poisonous Sectumsempra. "The poison will spread through his blood and he'll die while in a coma," she said.

"Well, how do we know?" Gideon asked.

"He should wake up in a few hours," Lily said. "If not, then we have to find the poison and search for the antidote."

Caradoc ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat, meeting Lily's eyes. "Will you, uh, stay here for the night?" he asked.

Taken aback, Lily slowly nodded. Caradoc was the opposite of his brother: quiet, surly, and terse. Asking Lily for a favor was unlike him. Lily looked down at Caleb, knowing she would do anything to keep Petunia safe.

"I'll stay, too," Alice said from Lily's side.

"You sure?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Alice said.

Dorcas looked at Lily with a concerned look on her face. "Will you be all right?" she asked. "Do you want us to stay, too?"

"No," Lily said with a shake of her head. "You guys should go home. Gideon, do you want me to fix that eye?"

"Oh, I'll do it myself," Gideon said, waving his hand. He looked at Dorcas. "Can I drop by your house for a little while?"

"Of course," Dorcas said. "Lily, if you need anything, just call me. I'll drop by tomorrow morning, all right?"

"All right," Lily said.

Soon, Dorcas and Gideon were gone. Caradoc pulled a chair up and sat next to Caleb, a worried look on his face. Lily picked up the towel, stained with Caleb's blood, and the bowl of water. She walked to the small kitchen and poured out the water. She performed a cleaning spell on the towel and then wetted it again. She walked out to the table where Caleb lay.

Lily felt his temperature with the back of her hand. "No fever," she said. "That's a good sign." She wiped his face clean once again, removing all traces of blood. She cleaned his shirt, as well. He looked better already - the color seemed to be returning to his face. Her stomach was tying itself into knots - she feared the poison.

Lily sat on the small couch on the other side of the room next to Alice. "I hope he's all right."

Alice patted Lily's hand. "Me, too."

Lily's stomach started growling a half hour later. Alice offered to go get the three of them some food. Caradoc said he wasn't hungry. "I'll be back soon," Alice said.

She Disapparated. Lily shifted uncomfortably, realizing that she and Caradoc were alone. She hardly knew Caradoc, but it didn't seem like he liked her very much. The silence in the caves was awkward. Lily turned on the radio next to the couch and tuned into the WWN.

"When should he wake up?" Caradoc asked.

Lily bit her lip. "If he's not up by midnight, I'll take a sample of his blood."

Caradoc looked at the clock on the mantle. Four hours.

Alice Apparated back into the caves with food from The Leaky Cauldron. "I brought you some, too, just in case," she told Caradoc.

* * *

"Lily. Lily, wake up."

Lily stirred awake, finding Alice and Caradoc over her. "It's twelve-thirty and Caleb's still asleep," Alice said worriedly.

Lily got to her feet, rubbing her eyes. She walked over to Caleb. His face was pale, beads of sweat on his forehead. She took her wand out, putting the tip on the inside of his elbow. She Conjured a flask and began drawing blood. It _looked _normal. "I need to go to St. Mungo's to test this," she said. "What was the arrest for?"

"Death Eaters crimes," Caradoc scoffed. "Moody tried to stop it, but Malfoy knows how involved he is."

"All right," Lily said. "If he wakes up, just wait until I come back."

"What if you're not back in an hour?" Alice asked.

It could take at least forty-five minutes for the blood test - provided she could get in without any problems. "Wait an hour and a half," Lily said. "If I'm not back yet, come to St. Mungo's for me."

Alice nodded, turning to look at Caleb. Lily Disapparated to the staff entrance at St. Mungo's. Inside, the nightly welcome witch, Victoria, looked at her questioningly. "You working tonight?" she asked.

"I just need to check on something," Lily said lightly. "Is anyone in the lab?"

Victoria looked at her map and shook her head. "It's empty."

"Thanks," Lily said. She walked to the lift and swiped her staff card to go to the basement. In the lab, she found the clipboard of potions to test for poisons. She went to the most recent - _Poisonous Sectumsempra. _She took a flask and signed the clipboard. _Healer: Lily Evans. Reason: Research. Date: August 6th, 1978. _

She carefully poured the purple potion and the blood into a small cauldron. The reading on the flask read, _Allow thirty-five minutes. Black indicates positive. Purple indicates negative. _

Lily walked around the lab, looking at different things. The lab had always interested her. Cupboards upon cupboards lined most of the walls. Bookcases with all sorts of books took up the entire left wall. There were cauldrons everywhere, a few refrigerators, jars of potion ingredients. It smelled like the dungeons at Hogwarts, strange, musty, mysterious.

Thirty-five minutes later, Lily fought back bile as she gazed down at the black liquid swirling almost menacingly. She sent her Patronus to the caves with this message: _His blood was positive for the Poisonous Sectumsempra. I'm going to search for the antidote. _

She imagined her doe Patronus carrying the news and Caradoc's face, crestfallen, shocked. She pushed the image out of her head, walking back to the Poisonous Sectumsempra test potion. According to the research, Walter Emerson had been researching the potion for the last three weeks.

She looked over his notes - _This potion brings death after three days by slowly breaking down the immune system and organs._ _Responds positively to crushed ginger and nettles, negatively to the bezoar. Antidote questionable - no one to test on. When added to black blood, it returned to normal color and tested negative for P.S. Brew crushed ginger and nettles for two hours, add chopped hellebore slowly. Three clockwise stirs, put cauldron over fire for one hour. Three counterclockwise stirs, then add 6 eyes of newt. Give potion thirty minutes - no more, no less. Inject 5mg into bloodstream. Patient should respond within five hours. _

Lily started to look through the cupboards for the four ingredients. She found the eyes of newt, crushed ginger, and hellebore. After searching the room three times and attempting two Summoning Spells, she was convinced they didn't have nettles.

She looked at the clock - it was nearly one-thirty. She sent another Patronus to the caves, then left the basement with the three ingredients and a copy of Emerson's notes.

Diagon Alley was completely empty when she arrived. The moon was nearly full, bathing the closed storefronts and cobblestone rode in soft light. As she walked towards the opening for Knockturn Alley, she pulled her wand out of her pocket. If James knew where she was. . .

She kept her eyes and ears open, her heart pounding as she walked down a few cement steps. She could hear voices coming from an open pub a few storefronts away. She pulled her hood over her head before pushing through the door into the pub.

The pub was dark and smoky. A WWN was playing with the murmur of the men there. There were about twenty-five people scattered around, and most of them were men. Lily avoided eyes as she walked to the bar. A bartender walked over to her. "You want something?" he asked.

"Are there any apothecaries open?" Lily asked.

"It's two in the morning," the bartender scoffed. His large nose cast shadows on his face.

"I'm just looking for nettles," Lily said.

The bartender raised his eyebrows. "Hey, Snape!" he called.

Lily felt her heart slam against her chest. "No, it's all right -" she began.

Before she could start to walk away, someone had joined them. Lily couldn't bring herself to look at him, but stared at the bartender while he spoke. "The lady's looking for nettles," he said.

"Nettles?" his familiar voice reached her ears. "It's nearly two in the morning. What could be so important?"

Lily looked at Severus. His dark eyes met hers, a flicker of astonishment crossing his face. "It's for an antidote," she said quietly.

The bartender walked away, leaving the two of them alone. Lily knew that Severus could help her, but she didn't know how far she was willing to go to find the last ingredient. "An antidote?" Severus repeated. "For what kind of poison?"

"Sectumsempra," Lily said.

"I have some at my house," he said.

Lily stared at him for a moment. "How much do you want for it?" she asked. She hadn't brought any money with her, but she could get some.

Severus shook his head. "I'll give it to you," he said, "if you just come over -"

"I'm not coming to your house," Lily cut him off.

"Do you want it or not?" Severus asked, anger seeping into his voice.

"You can't bring it back here?" She motioned with her hand to the pub, which was not a place where she would feel comfortable waiting. She definitely wouldn't feel comfortable going to Severus's house, either.

Severus turned away as he said, "Maybe the apothecaries will have it when they open tomorrow morning."

"Wait," Lily said. She winced, knowing he was winning these stupid mind games he played. "I'll come."

He met her eyes for just a moment before turning to walk out of the pub. He led her out of Knockturn Alley and out of Diagon Alley. Everything was still and dark. She sent Alice a Patronus while Severus's back was turned. They walked through The Leaky Cauldron, devoid of life.

Severus walked quickly; Lily kept her walk to a jog to keep up with him. Neither of them spoke as they walked through town.

Severus's flat was small and had the look and feel of a new home. It was evident he had only recently moved in. Lily wondered why he hadn't moved out last summer when he was of age. There were a few pieces of furniture scattered throughout the living room and kitchen. He had one bookcase completely full of a variety of titles - _Moste Potente Potions, The History of Grimmelwald, Quidditch Through The Ages. _Severus walked to one of the closed doors, beckoning Lily to follow him.

They walked down a few concrete steps into a small circular room that Severus had changed into a potions lab. There were two fridges, jars and cupboards, and different cauldrons. She wondered what sort of potions he brewed for Voldemort in this room.

Lily stood by the door, holding her wand in her hand, while Severus moved to the wall on the left. He pulled out a small jar full of nettles. "Perhaps I should brew this antidote for you," he said.

"No," Lily said. "No, thank you, I'll just take the nettles."

Severus looked up at Lily. "It's a very complex poison, Sectumsempra."

"I don't know why you're offering to help."

"I wouldn't want someone's blood to be on your hands," Severus said. He kept eye contact with her. Lily felt like he was looking into her soul. She looked away, knowing Severus had been studying Legilimens as soon as he had figured out about it.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Lily said shortly. "Can I just have the nettles?"

Severus didn't respond; the silence stretched out between them. Lily started to feel uncomfortable - maybe she should just leave. They had to have the ingredient _somewhere _at St. Mungo's, why wouldn't they?

"Are you marrying Potter?" Severus asked.

Lily looked at him in astonishment, not expecting him to say anything about James. "Yes," she said. The news of their engagement had flown through the school like wildfire.

"You know that'll just put you in Voldemort's path," Severus said. Lily almost winced, surprised that he was brave enough to say his name. "He doesn't like Potter or his parents."

Lily pursed her lips. "Well, it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"I think you should rethink it. Voldemort wouldn't mind a Muggleborn in his ranks -"

"What? You're actually suggesting -"

"Come on, Lily," Severus said. "You're smart enough to see that Potter's side is losing. Voldemort knows that you have more to offer him than mindless crooks like -"

"I can't believe this," Lily said, almost wanting to laugh. "You think half of those Death Eaters wouldn't think twice before killing my family or my best friends or my fiance?"

Severus scoffed. "And you think that they're worth anything?"

Lily stared him incredulously.

He rolled his eyes. "Your idiot sister? She hates you. And your. . .your _fiance_," he spat the word out bitterly. "How long has it been since you started dating? Eight months? Long enough for him to love you more than himself? Your mum will be dead soon -"

"Shut up!" Lily said angrily. It frightened her that he knew her mum was sick, but her anger burned over her fear. "The only reason you say that is because you don't have anyone."

Severus glared at her. She felt horrible for saying it, but then was angry at her own guilt. "And the only reason you're angry is because they are all you have," he said. "What if they all left you? You'd be nothing, no one. You'd have no power over anyone else, which I know you love so much. And that makes which of us the weaker one?"

Fuming, Lily held out her hand. "Give me the nettles. I'm leaving."

"Who is it for, your precious Potter?" Severus spat. "Or maybe one of his disgusting friends -"

"Oh, like you don't know who already," Lily said. She walked across the room and reached for the jar. Severus pulled it out of her reach, meeting her eyes with a challenging look on his face. She clenched her teeth. "Give it to me or not, Severus, I'm leaving."

Lily dropped her arm and stood there. She kept eye contact, abandoning her fear of him seeing into her soul. She would count to ten and then she would leave his house with or without the nettles. She thought of Caleb, lying still and helpless in the caves, and of Caradoc at his side, his head in his hands.

Once she got to nine, Severus held out the nettles. Lily took it from him. "Thank you," she said. She backed away from him; she had seen him hit Sirius and James in the back with spells one too many times. She walked up the steps and left the house as quickly as she could.

* * *

"How did you find all the ingredients?" James asked.

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. "Three of them were at St. Mungo's," she said. "The fourth one I found at Knockturn Alley."

Alice met her eyes, smirking a little bit. Lily had sent her Patroni through her journey, even as she had been walking with Severus Snape to his house. Caleb now sat on one of the couches in the Order of the Phoenix caves, drinking pumpkin juice, a faint scar on his head.

"I'll be indebted to you forever," he had said after they explained everything.

"No, only until you save her life," Alice had pointed out.

Lily continued to answer James's questions while Alice and Caleb drank pumpkin juice quietly. "I would have helped at any time," James said.

"I know," Lily said. "I was fine, though. I was never in any danger."

"Knockturn Alley at two in the morning?" James asked. "Who gave you the last ingredient?"

Lily shrugged, drinking her pumpkin juice. "Someone at the pub."

James stared at her for a moment. Alice wondered if he sensed something, but he brushed it off. "You're amazing, you know that," he said.

Lily gave James a small smile. "Thanks."

"Truly amazing," Caleb repeated. He raised his goblet to Lily before drinking.

Alice drank to her, as well. Lily shook her head, blushing a little bit.

* * *

**A/N: **Lily, the hero!

Next up: You hear that? It's the sound of wedding bells! =D


	3. Chapter 3: Wedding Bells and Clubbing

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **A wedding, a club, a honeymoon.

* * *

James straightened his tie, even though it was pretty straight already. He smoothed down his shirt. He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep breath. He turned around and looked at his friends. Sirius grinned at him. "Come on, James," he said. "It'll all be cool."

"Right," James said with a nod of his head. "I know. It'll be cool."

Remus had his stupid smile on his face, like he knew what it was like to get married in the middle of a war, to give your heart to one girl, to pledge to protect her and love her no matter what. James looked at the clock on the wall. "Good god, when does this thing start?" he asked.

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. His mum pushed open the door to his old bedroom and gave him a bright smile. "You look great, James," she said. "Are you ready to go downstairs?"

"Yeah," James said. "I was born ready."

His mum smiled, squeezing his hand. The five of them walked down the steps. His dad stood by the back door, looking a little nervous, but nothing compared to how James felt. "We'll see you out there," Peter said, clapping James on the back. The two of them went out the backyard, where the guests were starting to arrive. There were about fifty chairs set up in the backyard and an arch at one end of the aisle.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Potter said. "Everything's going to be fine, James."

"Right," James said. "Thanks, mum."

Mrs. Potter kissed him on the cheek, then went outside. Sirius let out a sigh. "I need a cigarette," he said.

"You need a cigarette?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. "Are you getting married today?"

"Close enough," Sirius said, and he looked completely serious.

James rolled his eyes. His dad smiled. "James," he said, "I couldn't agree with this more."

"Really?" James asked. "Even if we were five years older?"

"Really," Mr. Potter said. "Even if there were no war and absolutely no risk in marrying Lily."

James smiled back at his dad, who squeezed his arm. "Let's go, then," he said.

They walked out of the backdoor. James recognized faces and nodded politely to everyone with whom he made eye contact, but his stomach was stirring up. He wanted to see Lily and he wanted to get this thing over with and he wanted to be on the coast of Italy, living off of their families' money. They walked to the arch under which he and Lily would get married. There was a priest standing there, his dad's friend. He smiled at him. "Nervous?" he asked.

"A little bit," James said.

"It'll be over soon," the priest said, winking at him.

James wasn't sure how long it was, but soon, the orchestra in the back started playing. Marlene came out of the backdoor and walked around the tree in their backyard. She had a long dark blue dress on and a bundle of white flowers in her hand. She smiled as she walked down the aisle, and James noticed there were flowers in her hair, too. He looked over at the backdoor, wondering when Lily was coming. He couldn't remember who else was walking. Marlene came to stand on the other side of James.

There wasn't anyone else - Lily came out of the backdoor next. Her hair was up in curls and there was a veil falling down her back. She had never looked so beautiful - her white dress, her gorgeous face, her bright smile. James stared as he had never stared before and was sure he never would again. It was his wedding day, and he was marrying the only girl he had ever loved.

* * *

Remus sat at his spot, laughing at he watched Mr. and Mrs. Potter dance. The sun was shining brightly, but there was a light breeze, keeping them cool. He hadn't ever seen the Potters' backyard so decorated. There were white flowers everywhere - lilies, roses, gardenias, orchids. And although there were only about forty guests, it was the liveliest wedding he had ever been to.

He saw Marlene emerge from the dancing crowd, laughing. She walked over to him, grinning, and plopped into the seat next to him. "Hey," she said, nudging his leg with her barefoot. "Why aren't you dancing?"

"I don't believe in dancing," Remus said shortly.

"Oh, really?" Marlene asked, laughing. She grabbed the water in front of her and drank the whole thing. She stood up, taking Remus's hand. "Come on!"

"No, I really -" Remus said. His words were ignored as Marlene pulled him to his feet and into the crowd.

His disbelief in dancing soon turned into half an hour on the green grass with Marlene and then Jewel and then Lily and then Marlene again. He was fairly sure that they were much better dancers than he was, but at least he didn't look like Edgar Bones, who just nodded his head while his wife led.

Soon, the music stopped, and Sirius's voice came over the yard. "Madames et Monsieurs, your attention, please," he said. He was standing by the main table, holding his wineglass in his hand. "It's time for a toast, so grab your drinks."

After a few minutes of bustling around and getting everyone a drink, Sirius spoke again. Now, Lily and James stood next to him, holding hands. "I've made lots of toasts before, but never one so important," he said. He ran a hand through his hair. "James is my best mate. He's like a brother. We've, uh, done pretty much everything. I just want to wish you and your new wife the best." He raised his glass.

"Here, here," Remus said before drinking. Marlene giggled and drank next to him.

Sirius motioned toward Marlene. "Oh, yes," she said. "I'm Marlene, and I'm so blessed to be Lily's maid of honor and best friend. A couple of years ago, Lily couldn't stand James, and now she's getting married to him." Chuckles ran through the crowd. "I think in a couple more years, they'll be in love even more. Here's a toast to Lily and James."

"To Lily and James," the crowd chorused.

There was a low rumbling sound from the direction of the shed. Heads turned, and Sirius was coasting his motorcycle towards James and Lily. "I thought you should go out in style," he said, stepping off of the bike.

"What?" Lily asked, grinning. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am," Sirius said, tossing James the keys. The back of the bike was decorated to say, 'Just Married.' "That was Marlene, by the way, not me."

"Well, I don't think we should keep Italy waiting any longer," James said.

Lily shook her head. "Definitely not," she said.

The two of them mounted the bike. James started the engine up, and the guests cheered. Lily wrapped her arms around James's torso, grinning back at Marlene and Remus. "Bye!" she said.

"Ciao!" Marlene called, waving.

James hit the green button on the bike, and they shot off into the sky.

* * *

The friends and family were left to clean up after everyone had left and the party was over. Marlene had taken her heels off about an hour ago. She wasn't even sure where exactly they were. All the chairs were put away, and the food was packaged up. Mrs. Potter was letting the boys take about half of it home.

After the backyard was clean, they all sat in the kitchen drinking the leftover punch. "I hope James knows how to handle that motorcycle," Mrs. Potter said worriedly.

"He's a pro," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," Mr. Potter announced. He looked at his wife. "Want to join me?"

Mrs. Potter smiled. "Why not," she said. "This day was too stressful for my nerves."

The two of them left, leaving Marlene with the three boys. Marlene finished her punch. "I have had enough punch to last me forever," she said.

"Good stuff, huh?" Sirius said. "I think Dorcas made it."

"Ah, yes, Dorcas," Marlene said. Just one of the many guests she didn't know. There were the twins with red hair, the Dearborn brothers, the blonde snobby witch. She didn't know James and Lily knew the Bones's, either, but apparently, Hogwarts students were not allowed in the loop. "Who is she again?"

"The dark one," Remus replied.

"I mean, how do you guys know her?" Marlene asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't remember where we met her," he said.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "All right," she said. "I go back to school tomorrow. What are we doing tonight?"

"Sleeping," Remus said.

Marlene pushed Remus in the shoulder. "No, no, no," she said. She looked at Sirius. "Come on, I need to finish my last youthful summer in style."

Sirius shrugged. "You want to go to a pub or something?" he asked.

"Or something," Marlene said.

That night, Marlene got ready in her bathroom. She tried to get a hold of Mary, but she wasn't responding. It was just her and the boys. This may be awkward, but she was determined to have fun. Sirius said he found a club in London that he liked. Muggle dress appropriate, which made everything even more fun.

She wore ripped blue jeans, black boots, and a leather jacket with a red tank top. She was sure her dad would say something about her outfit, but he knew nothing about Muggle fashion.

There was a knock on the door. "Yeah?" Marlene said.

"When are you going to be back?" her mum asked from the other side of the door.

"I don't know," Marlene said. She looked at her watch. It was almost nine o'clock. "Maybe midnight?"

"You have to be at King's Cross at eleven," her mum said in a firm voice.

"I know, mum," Marlene said. She was trying to straighten her hair, but it wasn't exactly cooperating.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Marlene answered the door, and Sirius, Remus, and Peter came in. Her dad was waiting by the fireplace, his arms crossed. "Hey, Mr. McKinnon," Sirius said. He was wearing clothes similar to Marlene. Remus and Peter looked ready to go to a dinner party instead of a club.

"I want Marlene home by midnight," Chris said. "If she's not, I'll come looking for her, okay?"

"Okay," Sirius said, nodding. "That's fine. We'll be back by midnight."

"Good," Chris said. He backed away from the fireplace. "Have fun."

"We will," Marlene said. "Thanks, dad, for being completely embarrassing."

"It's my job," Chris replied.

They Flooed to Club Charmed. The hallway they entered was filled with witches and wizards in line. There was a bouncer at the front of the line, checking Apparition Licenses and scanning for dangerous weapons. The four of them got in line behind a boy with blue hair. Music was bumping from inside the club.

"You ever been here before?" Marlene asked Sirius.

"Once or twice," Sirius said. "Don't worry, you'll have fun."

"Oh, I'm not worried," Marlene said.

"That makes two of us," Remus said, looking around warily.

They got past the bouncer and entered the club. The ceiling was enchanted, the psychadelic colors shining down on the crowd. About a hundred witches and wizards were scattered around, half of them dancing, the other half at booths or tables. There were two bars, and the signs were in English, French, Spanish, and German.

"Is this an international club?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Last time I was here, I met a girl from Portugal."

First order of business was getting some drinks. The boys got firewhiskey, but Marlene ordered a Pixie Punch. It was a bright pink drink with a lime and a tangy taste. They crammed themselves into a table next to a loud group of girls speaking French.

"Hey, there's Katie," Marlene yelled over the music. Katie, a Gryffindor girl who had been two years above her, was dancing with a blond guy who had to be underage. "Who's she dancing with?"

"He looks like a fourth year," Remus said.

Marlene laughed. "Who wants to dance?" she asked.

"I've danced enough," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Oh, come on!" Marlene exclaimed. "Isn't the music making you want to lose all control?"

Remus paused. "Actually, no, not really," he said.

Sirius stood up. "What would you do without me?" he asked Marlene.

"We wouldn't be here!" Marlene exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Sirius's hand and pulled him to the dance floor.

Nearly half an hour, Marlene and Sirius rejoined their two friends, but found their seats had been taken. Peter was squished up against a burly guy.

"Hey," Marlene said, sitting on Remus's lap. She finished off her Pixie Punch, then smiled at their two guests. "Hi, I'm Marlene."

"Thaddeus," the one next to Peter said in a thick accent. "This is my friend, Leonid."

"Where are you guys from?" Marlene asked.

"Soviet Union," Leonid replied. "Let me guess, you are from England?"

"Righto," Marlene said. She stood up. "I'm going to get another drink."

"Oh, I will get it for you," Thaddeus said. He pushed Leonid out of his seat. "What would you like?"

Normally, Marlene would have insisted on getting it herself. But she was feeling reckless. It was her last night of freedom, why not let a strange guy dote on her for a little while? Marlene smiled at him flirtatiously. "I'll have a Pixie Punch," she said.

"Uncharmed, right?" Sirius asked Marlene.

Thaddeus glared at Sirius. "Excuse me?" he said.

"Just make sure you don't do anything to her drink," Sirius said lightly.

Leonid flexed his muscles, also glaring at Sirius. Thaddeus rolled his eyes and walked away. Marlene pushed Sirius's arm. "Be nice," she said.

A few moments later, Thaddeus returned with a bright pink drink in his hand. "Thank you," Marlene said.

"I'll try it first," Sirius said.

"Do they not teach proper manners at Hogwarts?" Thaddeus asked. "I got a drink for her, what is it to you?"

Sirius didn't respond, just sipped on the Pixie Punch. Marlene watched him as he kept eye contact with Thaddeus. Though Sirius had a slender build, he had strong arms and even stronger spells. She didn't want a fight to break out, so she took the drink from Sirius. "Sirius tested and approved?"

Sirius paused, then looked away from Thaddeus. "Yeah," he said.

Marlene finished her drink within about five minutes, and Thaddeus got her another one. The six of them started playing drinking games. It seemed like everytime Marlene played drinking games, Sirius was around. He was probably the funnest guy to be around when getting drunk.

"I didn't know you had it in you," Thaddeus said, thumping on Peter's back.

"It's all their fault," Peter said, motioning to Sirius and Remus.

An hour later, Marlene was dancing with Thaddeus and Leonid. She may have been buzzed from so many Pixie Punches, but she wasn't drunk. No, she was just having a little bit of fun. Sirius was dancing with a French girl. Remus and Peter still hadn't left the table, but they were laughing about something. Marlene really wanted to kiss Remus, but she refrained, instead kissing Thaddeus.

Thaddeus pulled her towards the wall, and they snogged for a while. "Oh, Remus," Marlene said.

Thaddeus laughed. "What did you call me?"

"What?" Marlene said.

"Look, maybe you can come over," Thaddeus said. "I can show you some of the Soviet Union tomorrow."

"Um, tomorrow I have to be at King's Cross at eleven," Marlene said.

"What is King's Cross?" Thaddeus asked.

"It's a. . ." Marlene trailed off, staring at the ceiling. "It's a train station. Eleven o'clock, I'm leaving for Hogwarts."

Thaddeus laughed again. He had a deep, rich laugh. "How old are you?" he asked.

"Seventeen," Marlene answered. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one," Thaddeus said.

"Wow," Marlene said.

"How old are your friends?" Thaddeus asked.

Marlene looked across the club, trying to spot the boys, but things were a little blurry. "Oh, they're eighteen or something," she said. "Older than me. But everyone's older than me, I'm just the baby of the group."

"Oh, I see," Thaddeus said. "Well, I can get you to King's Cross by eleven."

Marlene groaned. "Let's kiss some more," she said.

Marlene wasn't sure how much longer the snogging went on for. It could have been ten minutes or half an hour, but soon Sirius, Remus and Peter had joined them. "It's almost midnight, Marlene," Sirius said. "We've got to go."

"Go away, we're having fun," Thaddeus said.

Remus walked towards Marlene, taking her hand. He smelled like firewhiskey and dog. Thaddeus pushed Remus in the shoulders. "I said go away," he said.

"No," Marlene said, standing in between Remus and Thaddeus. "I have to go. My dad, he's, uh, waiting up for me, and you know - well, my dad's an Auror, and you don't want to have a run-in with him."

"An Auror?" Thaddeus repeated. "Like a Dark Wizard catcher?"

"Exactly," Sirius said. "So sod off."

Remus took Marlene's arm and started to lead her away. "Bye, Thaddeus, it was very nice snogging with you," Marlene said, waving over her shoulder.

They made it to the hallway with the fireplaces safely. "That was fun!" Marlene exclaimed.

"That's the last time we let you go off by yourself," Sirius told her.

"If your dad wonders why you're drunk, blame it all on Sirius," Remus said.

Marlene smiled at him. She thought of not telling him, but then felt reckless again. She didn't have to see him for nine months, what was the harm? She leaned towards him and whispered, "I pretended I was kissing you the whole time."

* * *

Lily gazed out from their hotel balcony, smiling. This was an amazing view. Her camera had snapped off multiple pictures already, but her eyes couldn't get enough. When she had proposed saving up to go to Italy for a few days, James had jumped on the idea. She wasn't sure he had ever thought about going to Italy before, but it was something she had wanted to do since she was young.

Their hotel, perched on a hill high above the rest of the town, looked over dozens of houses and alleys, tropical trees littered in between them all. The ocean stretched on as far as her eye could see. The sun was low in the sky, only an hour or so from setting. Its rays were reflecting on the blue water.

She heard James behind her. He wrapped his arms around her stomach and let out a sigh. Lily smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and putting her hands on top of his. "I love you," James said into her ear.

"I love you, too," Lily said. "I can't believe we're married."

"Me, neither," James said.

Lily turned around and faced him. He was in his boxers and a white t-shirt. Lily glanced over at the balcony next to them. "Someone might see you in your indecent state," she said with a smile.

"Indecent?" James repeated, grinning. "All you're wearing is a bathrobe."

Lily smiled, kissing him softly on the lips. James wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. Lily led her hands up to his hair, her fingers getting lost in his messy black locks. He picked her up and carried her back into the room. Lily broke away, laughing. "I was enjoying the view," she said.

"Shhh," James said, shutting the door behind them. "You can enjoy me now."

Lily giggled again, but James kissed her again, and she pulled him to their bed.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews and subscriptions, guys! Next up: Lily finds out her mother is very ill and the boys decide what to do with the Marauder's Map.


	4. Chapter 4: Muggle Minds

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Remus returns from his trip to Greece, and Lily finds out some bad news about her mother's illness.

* * *

Peter sat at the kitchen table, staring down at his eggs. How had they gotten so runny? He sighed. Why hadn't his mum taught him anything about cooking? Sirius ate out every chance he got. Remus could cook all right, but he was hardly ever here. Maybe his mum wouldn't mind if he came over for dinner again tonight. . .

The front door to their flat opened. Sirius walked in, yawning. "Hey, Pete," he said. "How's dinner tonight?"

"I can't even fry eggs," Peter said.

"You should have come with us to The Leaky Cauldron," Sirius said, dropping his bag in the living room.

Peter looked at him for a moment, and then decided it wasn't worth it to mention that he had no idea they were at The Leaky Cauldron. Although he should have suspected it - he, Lily, and James ate there every day after their separate trainings.

"When does Remus get back from Greece?" Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged, now sitting on the couch. He looked at an old copy of _The Daily Prophet_. "You got any stories yet?" he asked.

"No," Peter said. "I'm just the co-editor's assistant."

"Oh, yeah," Sirius said, tossing aside the paper. "Work sucks, doesn't it?"

Peter nodded. Up at seven, at the office until five. He almost liked classes at Hogwarts more, but at least he got paid for this. He had gotten two paychecks so far. He looked at the calendar, then remembered that Remus had been gone for two weeks, so it hadn't been moved since September.

"Want to play cards?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," Peter said, grateful for a distraction from his meager dinner.

A week later, Peter was sleeping in on Saturday when someone in his room stirred him awake. He shielded his eyes from the sun, groaning. He saw Remus walking around. "Oh, hey," he said. "You're back."

"Hey," Remus said. "How's it going?"

"Go-oood," Peter said through a long yawn. "What did Dumbledore have you do in Greece?"

Remus shook his head. "You know I can't tell you that," he said.

Peter nodded, noticing how much darker his skin was. His hair had highlights, and his left eye looked like it had been a few days since he had gotten a black eye. "Thought I'd try, anyway," he said. "I don't get to do anything for the Order at the Daily Prophet. All Dorcas cares about are the details that don't get into the press."

"Those are important," Remus said. "Trust me, I don't feel like I'm doing anything half the time, either."

He left the room as Peter rolled his eyes. Remus hadn't been able to find work for the past month, so Dumbledore had sent him to Poland and then to Greece with Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Whatever he was doing there had to be more important than telling Dorcas that Rita Skeeter didn't write that Evan Rosiers' wand had been found at Robin Wrecress' house three hours after she had been murdered.

Peter pulled himself up out of bed, yawning again. He pulled on a shirt and walked downstairs to get some food. Sirius was making a sandwich. "You want one?" he asked Peter over his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure," Peter said.

Sirius dropped one on the table in front of Peter. "Did you see Remus?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "You see his eye?"

"Yeah," Peter said, his mouth full of tuna. "Why do you think Dumbledore sent them down there?"

Sirius shrugged. He leaned forward on his elbows. "I heard that the last of the giants were in hiding down there," he said. "Maybe Dumbledore wants to get them on our side."

Peter chewed on his sandwich thoughtfully. It seemed like a lot of creatures were on Voldemort's side. They could use all the help they could get.

Remus walked downstairs. "Tuna sandwiches?" he said hopefully.

Sirius motioned to one that was already made on the counter. "So, Remus," he said in a sing-song voice.

"No," Remus said, "I can't tell you why I went."

Sirius made a face at Peter. "How are James and Lily?" Remus asked.

"Oh, they got it annulled a few days ago," Sirius replied. "Lily just couldn't take it."

"And how's training going?"

"We got kicked out when they found out we were Unregistered Animagi."

"Wonderful."

###

"Lily?"

Lily's head shot up. Louise Montgomery stood by the open door, frowning a little bit. She looked at Rose, who sat next to Lily, and then back at Lily. "Come on in," she said. "Rose, we'll be right out."

Lily stood up and walked into her boss's office. It had taken months to convince her mum to come in and days to convince Louise to see her. Her heart was beating with expectations and hope. "What did you find out?" she asked.

"Your mother has a rare cancer in her heart," Louise said. "And it's very far along in the stages. How long has she been sick?"

"Since July," Lily said, even though she knew Louise had already asked that two hours ago.

Louise shook her head. "They probably didn't detect it," she said. "If they put her on. . .no, they must have thought it was another disease because I'm afraid the medicine she has been on has been treating her symptoms, but making the actual cause worse."

Lily just nodded. "Well, okay, should she stop taking it?" she asked.

"Yes," Louise said, "but Lily, I don't think it'll make much of a difference."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, crossing her arms.

Louise sighed, giving her a sad look. "Lily, the cancer has spread through the rest of her body," she said. "The cells aren't doing the work they're supposed to be doing. That's why she's caught a cold and the flu, as well, because her immune system has basically deteriorated."

"Can't St. Mungo's help?" Lily asked.

"Muggle bodies can only handle a certain amount of magic," Louise said. "It's like the mind; if it is tampered with too much, it'll be broken, and that line is crossed much easier and much quicker in the body of a Muggle than a witch or a wizard or even a Squib -"

"But she had me, she must have something in her blood -"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," Louise said. "Magical blood pops up randomly; there's no telling why Muggles have witches and wizards for children."

"But I've met Muggleborns who did some study of their ancestry and they found that they did have witches and wizards and so -"

"Well, yes, but that still has nothing to do with -"

"So, you won't help her," Lily cut her off. She blinked away tears.

"No, I can't help her, Lily," Louise said. "I would if I could - maybe if she had been brought in much sooner, at least three months ago."

Lily shook her head angrily, wiping away her tears. "This is ridiculous," she whispered. "How many lives have we saved?"

"This is a hospital for witches and wizards, Lily," Louise said quietly.

Lily looked outside of the window. Snow was falling over the streets of London, the sky white and gray. She felt like it should be pouring rain instead and thundering and maybe lightning could be striking random people and killing them as well. "There's nothing," she said, more as a statement than a question.

"Nothing," Louise said with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, Lily. I'm so sorry."

Lily took a deep breath. "This is ridiculous," she repeated. "I want to talk to another Healer."

"Lily -" Louise began.

"Just let me talk to someone else," Lily said, raising her voice. "There has to be another way. There has to be a cure somewhere! There are ten Healers in this whole place, _someone _has got to know what they're doing."

Louise frowned. "Lily, I'm the Head Healer, and I know -"

Lily felt anger rise up in her chest. "Just call someone else in!" she yelled.

Louise held her gaze for a moment. Lily wasn't going to back down. There was no way she was going to let her mother die when any witch or wizard would be cured in an instant. Wasn't this prejudice? Didn't they realize what they were doing?

"All right," Louise said. "I'll call in Michael."

Lily stood in Louise's office even after she left. She didn't want to face her mother yet. She sat on the edge of the desk, taking deep breaths to avoid crying. She couldn't let her mother die. Of all she things she could do, she would be able to save her, too.

After a few moments, Louise returned with Michael. She explained the situation to him. The words ran together as Lily tried to concentrate, tried to read Michael's face. She watched the two of them talk with her arms crossed. Michael kept nodding, then he finally said, "I see your point."

"What?" Lily said.

"Lily, Louise is. . .Louise is right," Michael said. "Her body is too fragile. It could be. . .catastrophic to try to kill the cancerous cells in her body with magic."

"But would you try it?" Lily asked. "What's the chance of her surviving?"

Louise and Michael exchanged glances, the way Sirius and James did, and this angered her even more. "It's a very small chance," Michael said in a quiet voice. "She has. . .maybe a month."

"A month?" Lily repeated. "Do you have _any _idea what you're saying? You can't do _anything _for her? How many lives have you saved here?"

"This is a very different case," Michael said. "Her immune system is. . .it's hardly working anymore. She needs to go home and -"

"No," Lily said, and her voice came out louder than she intended. "No, this is. . .you know what, fine. Fine, I'll find something myself."

Louise caught her arm before she could leave the office. "Lily," she said in a soft voice. "Your mother's going to die."

Hearing those words felt like she had run into a brick wall. Lily fought back a wave of tears. If she let them shed, she may have to admit the truth.

###

Lily stormed into the flat and slammed the door. James jumped to his feet. "It didn't go well?" he asked.

She ran into the bathroom. "Lily!" James said. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He knocked on the door. "Lily, come on. Tell me what happened."

There was no reponse. He heard the water running. He leaned against the doorframe, repeating her name.

"Lily? Come on, you've been gone three hours," James said.

The door swung open suddenly. Lily stood there with an angry look on her face. Her eyes were red from crying. "They won't help her," she said. "They won't help her - some bullshit about her being a Muggle. Three Healers - they all said the same thing. Those bastards!"

"Oh, Lily," James said.

"I don't want your sympathy," Lily said, shying away from him. She turned off the faucet and started into the mirror. "And my bloody mother - she doesn't even care! It took me three months to convince her to go! Doesn't she. . ."

"I'm sorry," James said. "Look, I'm sure your mum will be fine."

"Don't lie to me!" Lily yelled, turning around. "She's going to die! She's going to _die_, James."

The words hung in the air between them. Lily began massaging her temples. "Louise is forcing me to take a week off of training," she said. "My mum is acting like everything's fine. I - I didn't want it to be this way."

"I know," James said. "I know." He came towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Lily, if three Healers -"

Lily looked like he had slapped her. "Bloody hell, James," she said. She pushed past him and went into the kitchen.

"Lily," James said. She began washing dishes with her hands, her wand still in her pocket. Her shoulders were shaking, and he knew she was crying, but he didn't know what to do. "Come on, let me do the dishes tonight."

Lily scoffed. "Yeah, right," she said.

He probably deserved that. He didn't remember the last time he did any work around their new flat. He had done whatever she wanted him to, but she was the one who had made this place a home, not just another place to live. She put pictures of their friends and family up. She bought towels that had fruit on them. She replaced the flowers on the windowsil in the living room every Tuesday.

"No, come on, I'll do them tonight," James said. He took her wrist. "You don't have to do this."

Lily froze. She looked at James. "No, James, I do," she said. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't talking about the dishes at all.

###

The Leaky Cauldron was lively - a group of friends sitting in a corner booth around Tom's beef and vegetable soup.

"This is what I call a dinner," Peter said.

"Remus, please teach him how to cook already," Sirius said. "It's all he talks about anymore."

"It's all I can think about!" Peter said, taking a spoonful of his stew.

"And how's cooking at the Potters' house?" Remus asked James, a smirk on his face. He wondered how James was doing in a small flat with only Lily - not any of them to keep him company.

James shrugged, grinning. "Lily's a pretty good cook," he said. "I cook, too, but we eat out a lot."

"Is married life all its cracked up to be?" Sirius asked.

James shrugged again. "It's great," he said. "Different than what I thought, but. . .it's Lily. She's amazing."

Sirius pinched James's cheek. "Gah!" James said, elbowing him in the stomach. Sirius laughed and returned to his stew. "Actually. . .you know how her mum has been sick? Well, she finally took her to St. Mungo's and Louise Montgomery says she's got some cancer in her heart." James stirred his soup quietly. "She's only got a month."

"A month?" Peter repeated. "For what?"

"To live," Sirius said.

There was a moment of silence. "Lily said it was all right if I told you guys," James said.

"Can't St. Mungo's do anything?" Sirius asked.

"Supposedly, it's too far along," James said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, if she was a witch, maybe. But I guess Muggles can't handle as much magic as we can."

"They really can't do _anything_?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head. "How's Lily?" Remus asked.

"She's pissed. She didn't go to training today," James replied. "She's going to try to tell her dad and her sister."

"Her sister?" Sirius shuddered.

"Man, that sucks," Peter said. "Just a month."

"Maybe it's better that she knows," Remus said. He wondered if he would want to know beforehand that his mum or dad would die in a month. Part of it was quite morbid, but another part of it gave them last moments that a lot of people these days didn't get.

"Yeah," James said. His bowl was empty, but he kept playing with the spoon. "It made me think about my parents. They're definitely not getting any younger."

"Aren't they older than Dumbledore?" Peter asked.

"I think so," James said, an indistinguishable look on his face.

The four of them were silent for a few minutes, finishing off their soup. Remus asked Tom for some more bread, and then looked at his friends. "Hey, you know about the map?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah," James said.

"I was thinking. . . you know some of the Slytherins are probably Death Eaters this year," Remus said. He glanced at Sirius, but he didn't give off any hint that those Slytherins could include his brother. "Maybe we should leave the map with someone who could watch 'em a bit."

"Like Marlene?" Sirius said.

Remus hadn't suspected such a quick response. "Well, yeah," he said.

"Good idea," Sirius said.

James looked at Remus, showing his surprise. Out of all of them, Sirius had been the most protective. "That easy?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "You don't trust her or something?"

"I didn't think _you _would," James said.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, motioning to Tom for another mead. "I love Marlene."

Remus wasn't sure about the feeling in the stomach. He had definitely felt it before, but never about a girl. Usually his jealousy was directed towards the normal lives of his friends or their guts or sometimes their sheer stupidity. He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I'll give it to her when I visit Dumbledore tomorrow," Remus said.

"Have fun," James said with a smirk.

The next day, Remus met with Dumbledore about his trip to Greece. Fabian and Gideon did most of the talking. He seemed pleased with their report of the Ministry and the Dark Magic in Greece, and gave them the next few days off.

"See you around, Remus," Fabian said at the statue of the gargoyle.

"See you," Remus said, walking in a different direction.

He pulled out the Marauder's Map and his wand. He finally found Marlene's name outside of the Great Hall. Remus began walking towards the staircase. He saw her walking down the third floor corridor. "Hey, Marlene!" Remus called.

She was wearing her school robes, her curly hair falling down her shoulders freely. She looked at him in shock. "Remus!" she exclaimed. She jogged towards him and gave him a hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked, grinning.

"I needed to talk to you," Remus said.

"Oh, really?" Marlene said, putting a hand on her hip. "What's up?"

Remus glanced around. "Uh, let's find somewhere to talk," he said.

"You want to take a walk outside?" Marlene asked, motioning over her shoulder.

"Sure," he said.

As they walked outside, Remus thought of the last time they had seen each other. Club Charmed, and that idiot Thaddeus, and how she cleaned up against him, her breath tangy and said, "I pretended I was kissing you the whole time."

The thought of that night sent shivers up his back, even though it wasn't too chilly for mid-October. The trees had lost most of their leaves, and there was a slight breeze. They walked along the edge of the lake. Marlene kicked the leaves, upsetting their resting places.

"So, how have you been?" Marlene asked. "Have you got a job yet?"

Remus shook his head. "Werewolves aren't so popular."

Marlene nodded, sighing a little bit. "Are you still living with Sirius and Peter?"

"Yeah," Remus said. "I went to Greece for a little while."

"That's awesome!" Marlene exclaimed. She hit him in the arm. "Hey, didn't you say you'd take me there someday?"

"Did I?" Remus said, playing innocent.

"Oh, don't act like you forgot!" Marlene said. "'Sure, Marlene, I'd love for you to meet my family in Greece. It's great there.'" She laughed, then stopped walking. "What are you doing here again?"

Remus pulled the map out of his back pocket. "Well, James and Sirius and Peter and I, we've got this thing," he said. "It's a map of Hogwarts. _I solemnly swear I am up to no good._" The two of them watched as the ink began to spread over the parchment, forming rooms and corridors and staircases. Marlene stared at the dots walking around, each one labeled.

"Is that. . ." Marlene trailed off, taking the map from him. He watched her look of fascination. "That's us."

"Yep," Remus said.

"How. . ."

"It's a long story," Remus said. "We. . .we're not here anymore, and we thought you would be the best person to have it."

"Are you kidding me?" Marlene asked her, looking at him with wide eyes.

"No," Remus said. "I mean, we weren't thinking about just sneaking out or whatever, because that's all we used it for, but. . .for watching people."

Marlene stared at him for a moment, then realization dawned in her eyes. "Oh," she said, looking back down at the map.

"I'm sure some Slytherins are Death Eaters," Remus said. "And maybe. . ."

"Does Dumbledore know about this map?" Marlene asked.

"Not as far as we know," Remus said, scratching the back of his neck. "It's just the five of us. Oh, Filch sort of knows about it. He doesn't know how to work it, he just knows that we use it all the time."

"The five of us?" Marlene said. "Oh, lord, what is she doing with that weasel?" She looked at Remus. "So, no one else knows? Not even Lily?"

Remus shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets. Part of him felt like he was losing something. They had kept the Marauder's Map safely in his trunk since they had left Hogwarts. Occasionally, one of them would open it up and look at it for old time's sake, but it never stayed out for long. Another part of him knew that the map belonged at Hogwarts with whoever needed it most.

"This is genius," Marlene said. "How did you guys do it?"

"We can't divulge our secrets," Remus said. He stepped closer to her and pointed at the map. "There are seven secret passages. One is caved in - we found that out the hard way. This one is right under the Whomping Willow. Pretty damn hard to get there. These two Filch know about. This one he might know about, but this other one's safe. It leads to the cellar of Honeydukes."

"That's how you guys always have sweets at the parties," Marlene said.

He could smell something from her hair, something sweet and flowery, something slightly familiar from the short time they were together. The breeze brushed a lock of her hair into his face. He gently brushed it away, his fingers accidentally touching her ear. She moved away, and he saw her cheeks turning pink.

"Sorry," Remus said. "I should probably go."

Marlene frowned. "Do you have to?" she asked.

Remus opened his mouth to tell her yes, but he paused and then said, "I guess not."

"Maybe we should go explore the castle," Marlene said, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Maybe," Remus said. "Or maybe we should just sit here and do nothing."

"What?" Marlene asked. "Are you serious?"

"No," Remus said, "of course not."

###

"Hey."

Lily looked up from her desk. Sirius stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "Hey, Sirius," she said. The last time they had seen each other was after training about a week ago when the three of them went out for dinner. It was nice to see him, but at the same time, she suddenly felt tired. "What's up?"

Sirius shrugged. He pushed one of the chairs by the door in front of her desk and sat down. "What is this room?" he asked, looking around.

"It's a room for all the trainees," Lily said. "We each have our own desk and cupboard." There were only eight trainees this year, so the room had plenty of empty desks and cupboards.

Sirius leaned over, looking at the pictures she had. There was one of her and James and another of Marlene and Remus. He picked up the second one, a thoughtful look on his face. "Do you think they still like each other?" he asked.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe. I haven't talked to her in a few weeks, though."

"And yet you have a picture of her," Sirius said, holding the picture in front of his chest, "and you don't have one of me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I've got pictures of you," she said. "They're just not on my desk."

"Well, I'll get you another one already framed so it can go right between these two," Sirius said, setting down Marlene and Remus.

"Thank you," Lily said.

"I heard about your mum," Sirius said.

Lily nodded, looking towards the window. "James said he mentioned it the other day," she said.

"How is she?" Sirius asked.

"She's all right," Lily said. Her mother had sat her down in their old living room, where Lily grew from an infant to a child to a teenager. Her mum said she was ready to go, that she had accepted her fate, that she respected Lily's determination, but she wanted her to accept it, too. Lily couldn't help it, she just exploded. She yelled at her, told her she wanted her mother to respect the fact that her children would never have a grandmother, that she didn't know how to be a good wife, that she needed someone who wasn't caught up in this stupid war, that if she died, Lily would be alone. And her mum had yelled back, and they had ended up crying and embracing and spending hours in that living room going over their memories.

Lily blinked back tears. She looked at Sirius with an embarrassed smile. "She's taking it well."

Sirius nodded, looking more understanding than Lily had ever seen him. She let out a sigh, putting her elbows on her desk. "We told my dad and my sister the day before yesterday," she said.

"How'd they react?" Sirius asked.

Lily shook her head, her eyes fixed on her paperwork. "Blubbering everywhere. I don't know, it might be okay. . .at least I know, instead of it - you know - surprising me."

The two of them sat in silence, and she thought, again, of their dangerous work. She thought of what Severus had said - that marrying James would put her in Voldemort's path. If she hadn't married James, she still would have joined the Order of the Phoenix. James and Sirius would be Aurors soon, risking their necks. Remus was out traveling, doing who knows what. Peter, Dorcas, all of them were working against people who cared little for their lives.

"I always wonder which of us are going to get out alive," Sirius said.

Lily looked at him with a slightly horrified look on her face. Sirius shrugged. "Don't tell me you don't," he said.

"I hope that all of us will," Lily said.

"But -"

"Don't, Sirius," Lily said. "Please. Just. . ."

"I should let you get back to work," Sirius said. He stood up and put his chair back. He adjusted his jacket. "Maybe the three of us should go out for dinner tonight."

"Okay," Lily said. Her next words surprised her because they were true. "That sounds nice."

Sirius smiled at her. "I'll tell James," he said.

"Tell him I'll talk to him at lunch," Lily said.

"All right," Sirius said. He pointed at her with a stern look on his face. "Get back to work."

###

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed it! Love the reviews, thank you guys so much :)

Next up: Halloween ends badly.


	5. Chapter 5: Halloween

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (Of chapter): **A Halloween party goes awry.

###

Sirius stood in the closet, looking out of the crack. Dorcas and Lily were walking closer, serious looks on their faces, which was funny, considering what they were wearing. Dorcas was dressed in all leather as a rockstar, her hair died pink and purple. Lily was dressed like Helga Hufflepuff, wearing a middle ages style dress.

Sirius jumped out and scared them. Dorcas nearly dropped her glass. Lily pushed him in the shoulder, grinning in spite of herself. Sirius laughed. "I love Halloween," he said. He was dressed up as a vampire, a fake trickle of blood going down his chin.

"You pull that off really well," Dorcas said approvingly.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Thank you," he said. "If you were a rockstar, I would go to your concert."

Dorcas laughed. Lily rolled her eyes. It was her idea to celebrate Halloween the way Muggles did, and the result was a costume party at her and James's flat. "And Lily, if you were Helga Hufflepuff, I would demand to be Sorted into your House."

Mary walked over to them holding a firewhiskey. Sirius was pretty sure it was Mary, she was pulling off an old woman pretty well. "Sirius!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since Lily and James's wedding."

"You look different," Sirius said in a mock-thoughtful voice. "I can't quite put my finger on it."

Mary grinned. "You, too," she said. She smiled at Dorcas. "Hi, I'm Mary MacDonald."

"Dorcas Meadowes," Dorcas said, shaking her hand. "You make a good old woman."

"You say that to everyone," Sirius said.

Dorcas shrugged. "It's not my fault everyone has good costumes," she said.

"Where's Remus?" Mary asked, looking around the room.

"He's sick," Sirius said. "The wussy, I told him he was well enough to party, but he's sleeping at home."

"That sucks! Hey, I got that job with the Arrows," Mary said, grinning. "I'm the Assistant to their Manager. I could totally get you guys tickets to the next game!"

"The Arrows?" Sirius repeated. He rolled his eyes. "Don't waste my time, Mary."

"What?" Mary asked, her eyes widening. "Oh, come on!"

Sirius argued with Mary for a little while, but then his eyes caught a girl with blonde hair. "Hey, you invited Jewel?" he asked Lily.

Lily looked over her shoulder. Jewel and Juniper were standing by the sweets table, talking and giggling. Jewel had a pair of wings sticking out of her back and flowers in her hair. "No," Lily said, "but I didn't invite a lot of people who are here."

"You should go talk to her," Mary said, nudging Sirius in the side.

"His ex-girlfriend," Lily told Dorcas.

Just as Sirius was going to take Mary's idea, Kingsley Shacklebolt joined the Ravenclaw twins. Sirius groaned. "God, why is he here?" he said. "He ruins everything." Kingsley was dressed as a pirate, but Sirius thought it was a hideous costume, and he could have done much better. He spent most of his time at training with Kings, James, and Alice, and they got along just fine. But that was when Jewel was out of the picture.

Mary laughed. "You're still jealous of him?" she said. Before Sirius could emphatically say no, she told him, "Jewel dumped him months ago. She's single again."

For some reason, this made Sirius much happier. "I'm going to get a drink," he said.

By the drinks table, he met Frank and Alice. He recoiled at Alice, who had a hump in her back and a disfigured face. "God!" he said, laughing. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Gunhilda of Gorsemoor!" Alice exclaimed.

Frank was dressed up as a battered Quidditch player, his arm in a sling and his left eye bruised. "You're quite a pair," Sirius said, picking up a firewhiskey. "It's good to see you, Frank."

Beaming, they glanced at each other. They leaned closer and then simultaneously showed him their lefts hands, two new rings on their ring fingers. "We just got married yesterday," Frank said. "We were going to tell. . .well, everyone, but we just thought it'd be better to have it small."

Sirius grinned. "That's amazing!" he exclaimed, clapping Frank on the shoulder. He knew they were going to get married eventually. Like James and Lily, they had a certain way of looking at each other. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Frank said.

Their faces were glowing, even with a black eye and Alice's disfigured countenance. "Are you going to tell everyone tonight?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, probably," Frank said.

"Can I make a toast?" Sirius asked. "Can I announce it right now?"

Laughing, Frank and Alice agreed. Sirius whistled loudly, silencing the room. He motioned to James to turn off the music. "Hey, we've got a newly married couple right here!" Sirius exclaimed. He pointed at Frank and Alice. "Frank and Alice Longbottom! They just got married yesterday!"

The crowd cheered and applauded. "To Frank and Alice!" Sirius yelled, lifting his bottle.

The guests echoed his toast, and everyone drank to their happiness.

Feeling emboldened, Sirius walked over to the sweets table. "Hey," he said, approaching the small group of ex-Ravenclaws.

"Hi, Sirius," Jewel said with a smile.

"You really look like a vampire," Juniper said, nodding. She was dressed up as Cleopatra, her blonde hair charmed black.

"Thanks," Sirius said. "You look quite Egyptian. How are you girls surviving after Hogwarts?"

They talked for a little while. Juniper was working in Hogsmeade, and Juniper at the orphanage in Liverpool. As usual, Juniper did most of the talking. After a few minutes, she got bored and asked Kingsley to dance. Kingsley glanced at Jewel, but then left her alone with Sirius.

Jewel smiled at Sirius. "You look older."

"You sure it's not the the blood?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

Jewel shook her head. "You're not fighting too much, are you?"

"No," Sirius said. Auror training had him on the field maybe twice a week, and the Order didn't have him doing much. "But is there such a thing?"

"A controversial question," Jewel said, raising her eyebrows. She picked up her plate of pastries. "We should go sit down. My feet hurt."

###

James walked through the tight crowd and approached Lily. "Hey, my little Hufflepuff," he said.

Lily smiled at him. "Hello, my little. . .Bloody Baron," she said.

James grinned. He was quite proud of his costume; he felt like he looked just like the Slytherin ghost. He wore clothes from the middle ages, blood stains all over him. "We need a bigger flat," James said. "There are probably only twenty people here, and I can hardly move my elbows."

"Twenty?" Lily repeated. "At least forty."

"Well, this was your idea," James said. He remembered when Lily got the idea around midnight about a week ago. He nodded approvingly, looking around. "You have great ideas."

"We only invited fifteen people," Lily said.

"We're just very popular," James said, shrugging.

"Did you see Sirius and Jewel talking?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," James said, glancing over at the ex-couple. Jewel sat on the armchair of the love seat, and Sirius leaned up against the wall, probably trying to charm her into going out with him again.

"She won't go out with him again," Lily said, as though reading her thoughts. "I heard she might move to America."

"What?" James asked. "Why?"

Lily shrugged. "She wants to a adopt one of the girls at the orphanage," she said.

"That's crazy," he said. "She's only eighteen!"

Lily was about to reply, but stopped at the smell of smoke. "What is that?" she asked.

James looked around. They walked into the kitchen, but everything seemed fine. The smell grew stronger. Lily went to the bedroom, but she found nothing. "What's that smell?" James heard as he went to the bathroom.

The smoke was coming from underneath the bathroom door. James felt the doorknob, but it was hot. "Shit," he said. "Lily, it's coming from the bathroom!"

James made a clearing, then waved his wand, and the door fell open. Flames poured out. James jumped back, avoiding them by mere inches. A few of them sent rivers of water from the tips of their wands. He heard screams behind him. He thought it was from the fire, but even after they put out the flames, the loud noises continued.

James flung around. With a jolt, he realized they were being attacked. There were people screaming and Disapparating, and others dueling. He ran towards the living room. He saw Peter trip over his dementor robe and fall backwards, dropping his wand. A Death Eater stood over him, smirking. James ran over to the pair of them, shooting a Stunning Spell towards the Death Eater.

"Thanks," Peter said breathlessly, scrambling for his wand.

"I don't know how they broke through the protection charms," James said, pulling Peter to his feet.

"Where's Lily?" James asked, turning around. She had just been behind him.

He heard her scream. "Lily!" James yelled, running through the small house. She was gone.

The chaos suddenly died down. There were only seven people left standing, all members of the Order. There were three Stunned Death Eaters. "Where's Lily?" James demanded.

"She was just -" Dorcas looked around. "She's not here?"

"It's not a very big house," James said.

Sirius bent down next to the coffee table and held up Lily's wand. He tossed it to James. Oh, God, this was all his fault. Why did he leave her side? He half-glanced at Peter.

Alice ran into the living room, tears running down her cheeks. "Frank's gone, too!" she said.

"Emmeline and Fabian, too," Gideon Prewett said, a worried look on his face.

"There are tons of people gone," Peter said nervously. "Did the Death Eaters take them all?"

"No," Sirius said. "A lot of people fled."

"But Lily, Frank, and Fabian wouldn't," Dorcas said.

"Neither would Emmeline," Gideon said, narrowing his eyes.

"I said Emmeline," Dorcas lied.

"We have to find them!" James yelled. "We have to find them _now_! Let's go to Dumbledore."

There was a _pop! _and there, standing in the middle of his living, was Albus Dumbledore. "Sorry to come unannounced," he said in a serious voice. "I've just received Dorcas' Patronus. Who's missing?"

"Lily, Frank, Fabian, and Emmeline," Dorcas said. "Well, actually, there were at least two dozen people here, but a lot of them Disapparated."

"Where's Remus?" Gideon asked.

"Sick," Sirius said. "Jewel and Juniper left on their own."

"I saw Mary Disapparate," Peter offered.

Dumbledore looked at the Stunned Death Eaters. "How many of them were there?" he asked.

Gideon shrugged. "Who knows?" he said. "It was all a blur."

"At least six," Sirius said. "How did they get past the wards?"

"I don't know," James said. Every moment they stood there, he thought about what they could be doing to Lily.

###

Pain jolted through Lily's ankles as they landed hard on a cement floor. She started fighting and kicking against her captor. The Death Eater struggled against her. She kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. In response, the Death Eater pushed her to the ground. Lily realized she didn't have her wand with her, and then invisible ropes snaked around her wrists and ankles.

She looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a study of some sort. The walls were lined with bookshelves. The fireplace was roaring, and on the ground stretched a huge Malfoy emblem.

Lily felt sick in her stomach. She didn't recognize who had kidnapped her, but he stood by the door, his wand out at the ready.

Someone knocked on the door, and two more Death Eaters came in, dragging Frank behind them. He was shoved to the floor next to Lily. "Hey," Frank said. "You okay?"

Lily nodded her head. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault," she said.

"Don't be stupid," Frank said quickly.

One of the Death Eaters laughed. She was the woman of the three, and Lily thought she looked slightly familiar. She had long, black hair and heavy-lidded eyes. "So, you're the Mudblood Potter married?" she asked with a smirk. "I should have known he couldn't do much better."

It took Lily a moment, but then she realized the woman reminded her of Sirius. She thought of Sirius' family, his cousins and aunts and uncles. They must have been related. The woman bent over, putting the tip of her wand to Lily's chest. "Don't listen to your friend," she said. "This _is _your fault."

She stood up and started pacing around. She looked at one of the other Death Eaters, a handsome man with black curly hair. "Rodolphus, what are we going to do with two members of the Order of the Phoenix?" she asked. "Can you think of the wealth of information we can get?"

Lily held back tears of anger. She glanced over at Frank. His right eye was starting to bruise, his charmed left eye now looking unconvincing in comparison.

"Let's start with. . ." the woman walked in front of them in a line, her eyes glowing. "Who gets to be the first?" She let out a laugh. "I just can't believe we have both of you!"

"Just pick one already," Rodolphus said with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't spoil the fun," the woman said, smiling. She pointed her wand at Lily, then moved it over to Frank. "Let's do Longbottom first."

"No," Lily said. "I'll go first."

"Lily," Frank said.

The men moved towards Frank. They grabbed his arms. "Please, leave him alone," Lily said. She fought back tears. She wouldn't cry in front of them.

"Lily, I'll be fine," Frank said as they pulled him to his feet.

"Sorry, red," the woman said. "You can have your fun later."

Rodolphus and the other man dragged him to the door, but the second stayed with Lily while the woman left. He stood by the door, guarding it. Lily looked away from him, tears falling down her cheeks. She blinked them away, angry with herself. She glanced around the room, wondering if there were any sort of weapons she could use against the Death Eater.

Whenever the Death Eater looked away, Lily inched herself closer to the desk. After about a minute of doing this, she heard a long yell from downstairs. Her heart slammed against her chest. She held her breath as Frank yelled in pain. When he stopped, she gasped, blinking back tears again.

She thought of her mom, who would die in a few weeks. She had to see her mom again, had to tell her she loved her. She thought of her friends, Marlene, Mary, Remus, Peter, Sirius. She thought of James, her husband, the love of her life, her reason for living. Even though she knew he couldn't hear her, she cried out to him in her head. _James, please, come save me. _

###

The caves seemed empty, even though there were about a dozen people in them. It wasn't quiet; everyone but Peter seemed to be talking, but Lily wasn't there, and it sent goosebumps up Peter's arms.

James slammed his fist down on the table. "They have Frank and Lily!" he yelled. Peter wanted to tell him that none of them had forgotten; it had only happened an hour ago. "Whatever they want, let's give it to them!"

"Whatever they want?" Gideon repeated. "James, they want us to -"

"If it was Emmeline and Fabian, you would have said the same thing," James shouted. They had escaped from the two Death Eaters who had taken them, but they hadn't seen Frank or Lily. Frank and Lily's wands also lay on the table, without their owners.

"James," Dorcas said, "you need to calm down."

Instead, James looked like he was going to explode. Before he could shout at her, Sirius stood up. "Let's go. . .elsewhere," Sirius suggested.

He took James's arm and pulled him into the kitchen. Peter followed. James shoved Sirius off of him, letting out a yell of frustration. "James," Sirius said, "we have no way of contacting them. How are you going to find the Death Eaters?"

"Let's go to Snape's house," James said. "Let's go to Lucius Malfoy's house. Or Rosier's. Or let's find Wilkes. Or your cousin, do you know where she lives? Do you want me to keep going or is that enough for you?"

"We don't know where any of those people live," Sirius said.

"Let's go to the Ministry," James said.

"They won't give their information to you," Sirius said.

James silently fumed. He paced around, his hands clenched into fists. He stopped in front of the sink. "The Death Eaters," he said. "The ones we have. We can get the location from them."

"They'll never give it up," Sirius replied. They had spoken about this option before. Dorcas had spent at least ten minutes trying to convince James and Alice that Dumbledore would do all he could to find out where they were.

"We can use Polyjuice Potion!" James exclaimed. He stormed out of the kitchen. The three of them followed. "I want to talk to Dumbledore. We can use Polyjuice Potion to go in as the three Death Eaters we have in custody."

Everyone looked around thoughtfully. Dumbledore had taken the three Death Eaters with Edgar Bones to Mad-Eye Moody. Now, it seemed they could be more helpful. Dorcas nodded. "I'll go to the Ministry," she said.

"I'll come with you," Gideon added.

The two of them Disapparated. "I want to be one of the Death Eaters," Alice announced. She sat next to Emmeline Vance, her eyes puffy from crying.

"Me, too," James said.

###

After an anxious hour of waiting around, Apparating around, and arguing with each other and with the Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix had come to a decision. Sirius nervously watched as James put on the robes of Walden Macnair. The two of them stood in one of the small rooms in the caves. James had a determined look on his face as he held his hand out for the potion in Sirius' hand.

He drank down the Polyjuice Potion. A sour look came onto his face. He shook his head vehemently, then his features started to change. His face grew rounder, and his body thicker.

James took off his glasses. He now looked like a man in his thirties with short black hair and a black mustache. "What do you think?" he asked Sirius in a grumbly voice.

"Convincing," Sirius said with a nod. He motioned to James' left hand. "Let me hold it for you."

James looked down at his wedding ring. He wiggled it off of Macnair's finger and handed it to Sirius. "I'll give it to you when you get back," Sirius said, pocketing it.

Out in the caves, they met two more imposters. Alice posed as Utticus Mulciber, a tall man with a long nose. The third looked like Samuel Travers, but was Edgar Bones. Other Order members stood around, wary looks on their faces. Sirius exchanged glances with a worried Peter. James held his glasses in his hands. "How long until it wears off?" he asked Dumbledore.

"About an hour," Dumbledore said. He glanced at his glasses. "Keep them just in case."

James folded them up and slipped them into his robes pocket. "Let's go over the plan again," he said.

"The three of us will arrive together, and ask if we can have see Lily and Frank," Edgar Bones said. "Alice and I will go for Frank, and you'll go for Lily. We'll Disapparate as soon as we get them. If we can't Disapparate, then we'll run as far as we can. Try to stick together and send Patroni to Dumbledore to keep him updated."

James nodded, swallowing. Sirius let out a breath. He felt like it was him going instead of his friend; his heart was pounding.

"All right, I can't stand it anymore," he said abruptly. "Just go already."

Dumbledore nodded. "You should get going," he said. "Tell them you escaped."

"And don't die," Peter said.

James laughed a little bit. "I'll try," he said.

###

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! Please review!**

**Next up: the rescue attempt for Lily and Frank. . .does it go well or not?**


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Alice, James, and Edgar go to rescue Lily and Frank.

* * *

Alice was glad she was born a woman. She felt odd in this body. Of course, who wouldn't? She was so much taller than usual, and she had no hair, and the man's briefs were annoying her. They were walking through a quiet town not far from Malfoy Manor. She held her wand close - no, not her wand, Utticus Mulciber's wand, about two inches longer than hers, and much darker.

She thought of Frank, and her heart ached. She hoped he was okay. She didn't want to think of what they were doing to him, and yet she saw it all play out in her mind: the Cruciatus Curse yelled from cruel lips, and Frank screaming in pain. She held back tears, telling herself what she had been telling herself all night: Crying wouldn't do anything.

James and Edgar walked on either side of her, although they were in unfamiliar, cold bodies. The walk gave them a chance to get used to their new bodies. It was cold, the night breeze cutting into Alice's bare neck.

They walked down a narrow lane quickly, as though someone was following them. Edgar seemed to have the map to Malfoy Manor memorized. It had to be only a few more minutes.

Sure enough, a tall yew hedge came into view. There were tall iron-wrought gates which barred them from a manor which seemed imposing in the night. As soon as they realized there were visitors, the coils twisted and turned into the shape of a face. "State your purpose!" they yelled.

"We need to see Malfoy, we've escaped from the Order," Edgar spoke with a firm voice.

The gates swung open. They quickly went through, high hedges on both their sides. The full moon loomed down on them, casting an eery glow on their surroundings. They approached the tall doors of the manor, which opened just as they approached. A tall, blonde woman stood there. "It's about time," she said, turning around. The three of them followed her, the doors closing by themselves. "They've been waiting for you. They're in the drawing room."

She walked to a door and stood by it. When the three of them stopped, she looked at them impatiently. "Well, hurry up and go in!" she exclaimed.

Edgar led the three them into a grand room with a sparkling crystal chandelier. Alice didn't catch anything else in the room, but only saw Frank crumpled on the floor, panting hard. She quickly looked away from him, trying to mask her horror.

"Where have you been?" an icy voice demanded.

A tall man stood in front of the fireplace, regarding them with an angry expression. He was deathly pale, especially in contrast with his black hair. He had an odd, waxy look, and his eyes were bloodshot red. With a jolt, Alice realized it was Voldemort. She had only seen a sketch or two, and now, he only stood ten feet away.

"The Order captured us," Edgar said quietly. "But we managed to escape." He looked at Frank. "I see you caught one of them."

"There's another upstairs," Voldemort said, his voice becoming a bit warmer at this bit of information. "Mr. Longbottom is very stubborn." He paced around Frank. "I keep telling him that we'll find his little girlfriend and kill her if he doesn't talk."

"That Hodge girl," a black-haired woman said with disgust. "They're both a disgrace to their bloodlines."

"So many of them are today," another Death Eater said in disdain. At second glance, Alice recognized him to be Lucius Malfoy. "Did you see Black there?"

"Of course," James said with a scoff. He motioned upstairs. "Do you want me to fetch the other one?"

Voldemort paused, glancing towards Frank. "Yes," he said. "Maybe if we threaten her instead, he'll talk."

"She's in the study," the woman told James as he turned to leave.

Alice watched out of the corner of his eye as he left. If he found Lily, would he Disapparate? Or bring her down here? She half-glanced at Edgar, but he was staring at Voldemort. How would they know how long to wait for him? She looked at Frank, vowing to do all she could to get him out of here.

"He hasn't said anything?" Alice asked. The voice that came out of her mouth surprised her.

"No," Voldemort said. "Well, not too long ago, he said he didn't even know anything. But at first, he said he would die before he said anything, so I wonder if he lied at some point."

His voice sent shivers up Alice's spine. He looked at Lucius Malfoy. "Lucius, tomorrow I want you to find that Hodge girl," he said.

"Of course, my Lord," the man replied.

Voldemort turned to the fireplace. He stared into the flames and became silent. There were a few moments where the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Alice's mind was racing. How were they going to get out of here? Frank slowly sat up. "We'll never talk," he said in a hoarse voice.

Voldemort started, as though he forgot Frank was in the room. He turned around just as the door opened. James came in, holding Lily by the arm. She looked defiant, but scared. James led her into the room slowly.

Voldemort smirked, looking her up and down. "And what are you supposed to be?" Voldemort asked in an amused voice.

Lily glared at him. After a moment, she said, "Helga Hufflepuff."

Voldemort rose his eyebrows. "Fitting," he said. He twirled his wand in his hand. "So, you're Lily Potter. It wasn't wise, turning down Snape's offer to join us."

"I would never," Lily whispered.

"Well, the offer no longer stands," Voldemort said, his voice becoming venomous. "The only reason you're here is to find information about Dumbledore's silly campaign against me."

James suddenly spun on the spot, pulling Lily close to him, and Disapparated. Alice and Edgar ran to Frank, taking out their wands. Edgar narrowly missed a spell shot from the woman's wand. Alice, however, was thrown across the room. She hit a chair. She fell to the ground, her insides on fire.

"Alice!" Edgar yelled. He tossed Frank his wand, then yelled at Voldemort, "_Impedimenta_!"

The woman reared in anger, but Edgar yelled, "_Protego_!"

Alice shot a Stunning Spell at Malfoy. Frank was free of his ropes. He ran to her, and yelled back to Edgar, "Get out of here!" He grabbed Alice, and Disapparated with her.

Suddenly, they landed on the grounds of the caves. Alice bent over, yelling out in pain. "My stomach," she groaned. "Oh, god." She felt bile in her throat. She tried to hold it back, but retched on the ground. She wiped vomit off of her mouth, panting.

"It's probably a vomiting hex," Alice heard Dorcas' voice.

"I don't think You-Know-Who would curse her with something like that," Frank said.

"It was You-Know-Who?" someone said in shock.

"Come on, let's get you into the bathroom," Lily said gently. She led her into the bathroom, where Alice threw up a bit more. It stopped after a moment, but she still felt horrible pain in her stomach. Lily performed a spell, but nothing happened. She then opened Alice's robes and lifted up her shirt. She pressed on her stomach tentatively, making Alice cry out in pain.

"Please, stop," Alice groaned.

Lily kept pushing on her stomach. Tears began to stream down Alice's face. "Make the pain stop, please," she said.

"I know what this is," one of the Prewett twins said. "It's a dark magic that is eating away at her insides. The countercurse - oh, god - okay - _Bonusalvus_."

The pain suddenly lessened. Her stomach throbbed for a moment, but then relaxed again. She leaned her head back on the toilet seat, panting. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Fabian said breathlessly.

Frank fought past the small crowd of people that had gathered. "Alice?" he said. "Is that really you?"

Lily flushed the toilet, then ushered everyone out of the bathroom to leave the two of them alone.

* * *

The Polyjuice Potion had finally worn off. James flexed his hands, staring at his wedding band. He looked at Lily, who sat next to him on the couch in the main room of the caves. "I was. . .I never would have been able to live with myself if anything to happened to you," he said.

Lily took his hand. "Me, neither."

"Lily, maybe. . ." James trailed off. "Maybe you should go -"

"James, I'm not going anywhere," Lily said quickly.

"Look, if you - you could hide with your parents."

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "James, no. No, I can't."

James looked away from her, upset. He wanted her safe, and the only way she would be safe would be out of this world. "We - we could both go. We could move to America."

"No," Lily said firmly. "That would kill us." She squeezed his hand. "We belong here, James. Here with the Order."

James put his free hand through his hair. He sighed. He knew Lily wasn't going to give up. He wouldn't, either, but he wanted Lily to. He wanted her to be afraid and to run as far as she could from the war. But if she did, she wouldn't be the woman he fell in love with. He didn't know which he valued more: her safety or her passion.

"Let's go home," Lily said. She was still in her Halloween costume. "It's been a long night."

* * *

The streets of their neighborhood were empty. Remus passed one or two people on his walk. He had has hands deep in his pockets, trying to keep warm. He knew he could just Apparate to his room, but it felt good to stretch his legs out after a night in a different shape.

He had a scratch on his side that was irritating him, but he didn't want to take out his wand. He turned onto their street. He passed four houses, then turned up the pathway to the small house he shared with Sirius and Peter. The door was locked, unlike usual. Remus slipped his wand out and whispered, "_Alohamora_."

It was quiet inside. He didn't doubt that Sirius and Peter were still sleeping. It was almost noon, but Lily and James had had a Halloween party last night.

He walked to the bathroom. He stripped off his shirt, covered in dirt and some of his blood. He looked down at the scratch. It wasn't very big. He pulled the essence of dittanyout of the cabinet and gingerly applied some. It stung at first, but then he could feel his skin gradually healing.

Remus turned on the shower. There was a lump of some sort of clothing between the toilet and the shower. He picked it up; it was a dress. He shook his head, wondering what Sirius had gotten into last night.

There was a knock on the door. "Yeah, come in," Remus said.

The door opened, and Lily stepped in. "Oh," Remus said in surprise. "I thought you were Sirius or Peter."

Lily smiled at him, trying not to look at his bare chest. "No, I - James and I stayed here last night," she said.

"Why?" Remus asked. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, and her hair was damp from the shower.

"Oh, we'll tell you when you get out," Lily said. "I just came to get my dress."

Remus picked it up and handed it to her. "Your costume?" he asked.

"I was Helga Hufflepuff," Lily said. She paused, then crossed the distance between them and hugged him. Remus awkwardly patted her on the back. She pulled away, and her red cheeks made Remus feel a little better, his face also on fire. "Sorry, I just - it's really good to see you."

"You, too," Remus said, nodding.

Lily left quickly, smiling. Remus stood there for a moment, then shook his head and turned to get in the shower.

Downstairs, Lily was making lunch. James was sitting at the table, his hair sticking up in ways even more odd than usual. "Hey," Remus said.

"Hey," James said through a yawn.

Remus sat down next to him. "What are you making?" he asked Lily.

"Just some stew," Lily said. She stirred the contents of a large pot on the stove.

"So, why did you stay here last night?" Remus asked.

James looked at Lily. "You didn't tell him?" he asked.

"No," Lily said, "it's kind of a long story. Why don't you tell him?"

James sighed a little bit. "Did your house burn down?" Remus asked.

"Almost," James said. "There was a fire involved. But it was just a distraction. About eight Death Eaters attacked our party last night."

"What?" Remus asked. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yeah, now," James said. "They got Fabian, Emmeline, Frank, and Lily. Fabian and Emmeline escaped - they still had their wands. They were all at Malfoy Manor, and they had Frank and Lily."

Remus looked at Lily, his eyes wide. She smiled weakly, shrugging. "Alice, Edgar, and I took Polyjuice Potion," James said. "We had three of them, Stunned before their friends left. Anyways, we went to Malfoy Manor looking for them. I Disapparated with Lily, then Edgar and Alice went for Frank. Alice got hit with a nasty curse, but they all got back to the caves safely."

Remus stared at James and Lily with his mouth hanging open. "Oh, my god," he said. "I can't believe that. I'm glad you guys are okay."

Lily handed him the _Daily Prophet. _"Rita Skeeter wrote about it," she said.

"Rita Skeeter?" Remus repeated. He pulled the newspaper closer. The headline read, _Longbottoms Kidnapped and Attacked by You-Know-Who_.

_Frank and Alice Longbottom, a newly married couple, were innocently enjoying their Halloween night at a friend's costume party when suddenly, they were surrounded by Death Eaters. One of them grabbed Frank and Disapparated with him, leaving his wand behind. Another kidnapped Lily Potter, a Healer-in-training at St. Mungo's. _

_Alice and other guests at the party fought fearlessly against the remaining Death Eaters and Stunned three of them. Alice decided to use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate the Stunned Death Eaters and retrieve her husband. Aurors James Potter and Edgar Bones accompanied her. Details were not released on where Frank and Lily were found, but Head Auror Alastor Moody assures the _Prophet_ that there will be a thorough investigation and possibly a raid. _

_James Potter Disapparated with his wife, and Bones and the Longbottoms had a short battle with You-Know-Who and two of his Death Eaters, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange. Alice was hit with the Evil Entrails Hex, but the three of them Disapparated without another scratch. _

_Frank claimed he was tortured for information on the Ministry and the Aurors, but he told them nothing. The Longbottoms, two Aurors, were married on Tuesday. _

Remus looked up, shaking his head. "This is crazy. . .I can't believe - good god."

"I know," Lily said, smiling. "I like how she calls you all Aurors."

"I like when she says it was Alice's idea," James said.

Lily let out a laugh. "It was James's," she told Remus.

"Your brilliance goes unnoticed," Remus said. "What a shame."

"As usual," James said with a smirk.

"Who are the three Death Eaters you impersonated?"

"Utticus Mulciber, Walden Macnair, and Samuel Travers."

"And you - did they torture you at all, Lily?"

Lily shook her head, taking out some bowls. "It was only Frank. James came up to get me, but I didn't know it was him because Malfoy's wife was with him."

"And did you see. . .You-Know-Who?" Remus asked quietly.

Lily turned her back to them, dishing up some soup.

"Yeah," James said. He shuddered. "Bastard is creepy."

"What does he look like?" Remus asked.

James paused as Lily gave them two bowls of soup.

"Thanks," Remus said, his stomach growling. "I'm starving."

"He's got black hair, and he's really pale," James said. "His eyes are red. He looks sort of like a vampire, but not quite. There's something. . .not human about him."

Remus ate his stew greedily. He hadn't eaten dinner last night, and of course, he hadn't had breakfast. He guessed he hadn't had anything in his wolf form. Some morning, he would wake up in the woods, his stomach full. It would make him sick to think of what he ate, even if it could have been just a squirrel.

He paused for a moment to ask another question. "Who else did you see? I mean, Death Eaters."

"It wasn't Rodolphus Lestrange," James said. "It was Lucius Malfoy."

"Is he the son of Abraxas Malfoy?" Remus asked.

James nodded. "Married to Sirius's cousin," he said.

"Andromeda's sister?" Remus asked.

James nodded again, chewing thoughtfully. "We have to move," he said. "They knew where we live, and somehow, they got past the protection wards."

"Of course," Lily said quietly. She looked at Remus. "You don't mind if we stay here for a little while, do you?"

"No," Remus said. He now understood why Lily had hugged him. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for her last night. He didn't know what he would do in such a situation - probably crack under the first Cruciatus and spill everything. No, no, he wouldn't. He would die before giving away any information that would further You-Know-Who. There was no way he could put any of his friends in more danger than they were already in.

* * *

_LILY,_

_Bloody hell, mate, I HAVE TO READ IT IN THE BLOODY DAILY PROPHET THAT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED BY DEATH EATERS? Where is our friendship going? I know we haven't seen each other since your wedding, but what am I supposed to think? ARE YOU OKAY?_

_Marlene_

Lily shook her head, smiling a little bit at Marlene's note. She grabbed some parchment and wrote back.

_Marlene,_

_Sorry, I just didn't think, 'Well, I have to write all my friends about my horrifying experience.' Really, I just didn't think about it. I'm all right. It was pretty terrifying, but I'll live. I've had a few nightmares, but Frank was the one being tortured. I can't imagine. Anyway, I really love you. I thought of you when I was there, wondering if I'd get killed. Okay, is this getting too mushy for you? I've got to go, but write me back. _

_Love,_

_Lily_

* * *

**_Next up: _**A long Order meeting, James and Lily move again, and Lily gets some horrible news.


	7. Chapter 7: Moving On

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Order meeting debriefing the Halloween attack, James and Lily move, Lily finds out some bad news. :(

* * *

Dorcas had brought sweets. As Lily watched everyone dig in and get settled, she could tell they might be a while.

"Whenever we have a big incident like this, an extremely long meeting follows," Fabian said, seeing Lily's expression. "We'll be lucky if we're out of here by four."

Lily raised her eyebrows, looking at her watch. It was almost eleven o'clock. James came back to the couch they were sitting on with a handful of candies. He dumped them onto Lily's lap and plopped down in the seat next to her.

"I vote Edgar gets lunch for us," Gideon said.

"Me, too," a small chorus of voices followed.

Edgar sighed. "Give in your sickles," he said, passing around his hat. "I'll leave in two hours."

Dumbledore walked into the caves wearing a traveling cloak, McGonagall behind him. "Hello, everyone," he said. He hung his cloak up with the many other coats by the opening. He settled into a seat. "Minerva will be our recorder today."

McGonagall Conjured up a blackboard. She pulled over a chair and sat down next to it.

"Well, let's begin," Dumbledore said. "Lily, why don't you begin? Tell us exactly what happened Tuesday night."

"Okay," Lily said, nodding. This was a little intimidating. "James and I decided to throw a Halloween party Muggle-style - you know, with costumes and all. We probably invited about a dozen people, but about forty showed up."

"You sent owls out for invites?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Lily said, her face flushing. "I didn't think it would bring Death Eaters -"

"It's all right, just continue," Dumbledore said.

Lily nodded. "It was about nine o'clock when James and I smelled smoke. It was coming from the bathroom, and we quickly put out the fire. I guess it was a diversion." She looked at Sirius. "They Apparated in?"

"No, they came in through the door," Sirius said. "We were all distracted by the fire, but Frank saw them first."

Lily glanced at Frank, but Dumbledore motioned for her to continue. "Oh, well, I went to Stun one of the Death Eaters, but someone grabbed me from behind. I started to fight back, and another Death Eater Disarmed me. Then he Disapparated, and I was in some sort of study. He put ropes around me, then they brought Frank in. I don't know who any of them were - two men and a woman."

"The Lestranges," Frank told her. "Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan. Bellatrix is married to Rodolphus, and Rabastan is his brother."

"Oh." Lily knew the family name. She thought back to how Bellatrix had reminded her of Sirius, but refrained herself from looking at him. "Well, the married couple took Frank downstairs. Rabastan stayed by the door and stood guard. I tried to get closer to the desk to somehow escape, but he noticed and dragged me over to sit by him. Then James came - but he looked like Macnair - and took me downstairs. Malfoy's wife was with him."

"Narcissa Malfoy," Edgar clarified.

Lily felt her face flush again, thinking of how much she _didn't_ know. "Right," she said. "We went into a room, and um, Frank was on the ground, and Alice and Edgar were there. And You-Know-Who. He asked me who I was supposed to be, and I told him Helga Hufflepuff, and then James grabbed me and we Disapparated."

"And then she kicked me in the shin," James said.

Lily laughed quietly. "I had no idea what you were doing."

"Was Lucius Malfoy there?" Dumbledore asked.

"Um, I don't know." Most of Lily's attention had been on either Voldemort or James's iron grip on her arm.

"He was," Alice said.

"We have eight known accomplices," Dumbledore said. Already, their names were written on the blackboard in McGonagall's curvy handwriting. "Fabian, why don't you tell us what happened to you and Emmeline?"

Fabian told his story - he and Emmeline had also been kidnapped, but they had their wands. They had also arrived at the Malfoy Manor, but had managed to get away. They had seen one Death Eater the rest of them hadn't: Christopher Rosier, Evan Rosier's father. He was added to the list.

Dumbledore nodded. "As I suspected," he said. He took a piece of paper out of his briefcase and passed it to Dorcas. "These are the nine. Two women, seven men. We cannot assume Narcissa Malfoy is a Death Eater as she was never involved in any activities other than showing people around the house. Let's discuss them."

They talked about each person who had been involved in the Halloween attack. They began at birthplace, then went through their Hogwarts years. They had theories about when each man joined You-Know-Who, and why. Other than the Malfoys, Macnair, and Christopher Rosier, their current addresses were unknown. A few worked for the Ministry, a few were too wealthy to need any sort of job. Christopher Rosier was the only one who had children. On the piece of paper being passed around were black and white drawings of all nine.

Dumbledore then directed his attention to Frank and asked him to tell about being tortured. Frank said he had waited fifteen minutes after being taken away from Lily. He heard people yelling in the drawing room, and he now suspected it was about Fabian and Emmeline's escape. He faced You-Know-Who, and, though Bellatrix requested to torture him, You-Know-Who had done most of it. He asked about where the headquarters was at first, but then moved on to members. Frank said he didn't say anything other than he didn't know many members.

Lily couldn't imagine being tortured, and she wondered if she would ever be as strong as Frank. She wanted to ask James to make sure she never got in that situation, even if he had to kill her. She was pretty sure James would never agree to that, though.

The meeting continued on. Edgar left to get lunch around one, promising to get something tasty. They discussed the dynamics of the relationship between You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. Bellatrix, in particular, seemed to be in love with him. Lily caught a look of disgust on Sirius's face.

Dumbledore then began to describe what he had done with the three Death Eaters in their custody. He had handed them over to Christopher McKinnon, but their capture had not been released to the press yet. Why that was, Dumbledore wasn't sure.

When Edgar came back with food, Dumbledore announced that he only had one more thing to go over. He laughed at the collective looks of shock, and looked at James and Lily. "We need to talk about the wards you had up."

"Yeah," James said.

Lily knew this would come up. Her appetite seemed to flee. James, on the other hand, was loading a paper plate up with Chinese food.

"So, what did you have up?" Dumbledore asked.

"Protego Totalum," Lily said. "Cave Inimicum, Salvia Hexia." She glanced at James. He nodded, answering her unasked question. "That's all."

"All right," Dumbledore said. "For Death Eaters - especially if all nine were involved - those spells are, as we found out, breakable. I'm wondering about the fire, though. Do you think someone came as a guest just to start the fire?"

"Probably," Lily said. "I mean, everyone was in costume, and we didn't know everyone."

Dumbledore asked if anyone remembered a guest who looked suspicious, but no one did. "I'm so sorry," Lily said emphatically. "We thought it would be a fun get-together, not - you know -"

"It's all right," Dumbledore said. "From now on, we'll all have to send out coded messages about get-togethers. And perhaps when everyone has arrived, they can all perform protective charms. Each additional charm strengthens the original charm."

Lily nodded. "Yeah, anytime we gather in the future, we'll do that."

"We should look into getting you Secrecy Sensors and Foe Glasses, as well," Dumbledore said.

"Of course," Mad-Eye Moody said, his mouth full. "I'll get some for all of you. I've just got to pull some strings. It'll be easy to get some for the Aurors, of course. Everyone else may have to wait a little while."

"Thank you, Alastor," Dumbledore said. "Well, with that said, I think I'll be on my way." He paused, looking again at Lily. "Are you searching for a new flat?"

"Oh, yes," Lily said. "We're living with Sirius for now."

"Be sure to apply extra charms," Dumbledore advised her. "Edgar, thank you for lunch, but Minerva and I have got to get back to Hogwarts."

"Sure," Edgar said with a smile.

Dumbledore passed around copies of the drawings of the Death Eaters. "Good afternoon, everyone." He trailed out.

"I'm glad you're both all right," McGonagall said before following him.

Fabian put his feet up on the table in front of him. "That was a good meeting," he said. "Short and sweet, just the way I like it."

* * *

"I _told _her it was your idea!" Alice said defensively.

James grinned. "I know." He really didn't mind all that much. Sure, it would have been nice to have some credit for the plan from Rita Skeeter, but as long as Frank and Lily were all right, it was okay. Now, if Alice stole his thunder one more time, he may have to claim at least one of the victories. "I don't care, I was just teasing."

"Sure you were," Alice said with a roll of her eyes. She picked up her sandwich and was about to take a bit from it when two giggling girls nervously approached them.

"Hi," the taller one said. "Um, are you Alice Longbottom?"

"Yes," Alice said.

"Are you James Potter?" the other one asked.

"That's me," James said with a grin. He was still giving autographs, and that was good enough for him.

The two girls giggled. "Can you - um, sign this?" the taller one held out the article that had run in the _Daily Prophet _last week.

Alice blushed. "Sure."

"Oh, come on," Sirius groaned, his mouth full.

"You're just jealous," James said dismissively.

"There have been at least twenty autograph requests!" Sirius exclaimed. "And do they all have to come while we're on lunch?"

"Don't listen to him, he's just bitter," James told the girls. He signed the article, then handed it back to them. He gave them a wink, which spurred on more giggles as they ran back to their mother. She smiled warmly at Alice and James and waved as though she knew them.

"Don't let the fame get to your head," Sirius warned them.

"We'll try," Alice said with a laugh.

Sirius rolled his eyes at Kingsley, who only chuckled.

After their lunch break, they went back to Classroom 2 by the Auror Department. On Wednesday afternoons, they sat through a mind-numbingly boring session on Magical Law and how Aurors operated within that law. James couldn't believe how much Tiberius Ogden could talk.

He looked forward to Fridays, when they spent the day dueling and learning new defense spells. Sirius usually came over Friday nights, the two of them practicing what they had learned. Last Friday, they had come home to the same house. Lily and James were still searching out a place to live. It was odd living with his friends again, he had been with only Lily for a few months. He was used to just the two of them and their routines, but now they were sharing the bathroom and the kitchen, and Lily didn't walk about in her underwear anymore. He still could, but it wasn't quite the same. James wrote a note on the top of his paper, reminding him to see about that flat he saw in the paper today.

They sat about for two hours, listening to Ogden's presentation on the proper way to handle a trial after you've arrested someone. James took notes, but spent a lot of his time doodling on the sides of his paper. With just the four of them, it was easier for Ogden to notice if they were screwing off, so James and Sirius didn't fool around as much as they might have in Flitwick's class. They had to grow up eventually.

* * *

"Where should we put the couch?" Lily asked, standing in the living room. She looked around thoughtfully. "I like it up against that wall. But maybe the other wall?"

"Well, we should find out soon," James said. He levitated the boxes labeled 'bedroom' to their small bedroom. It was smaller than their last flat, but neither of them minded. "They're coming over with our furniture."

"Already?" Lily asked. She took out her wand to help him.

"It was the only time I could get them," James said. "Remus is going off to France tomorrow, and Sirius has a date tonight."

"With who?"

"I don't know," James said.

Lily couldn't tell if he was lying or not. She wondered if it was Jewel. She didn't ponder it for too long. The door opened, and Peter came in. Sirius and Remus were carrying the couch. "A little help?" Sirius said.

"_Wingardium Leviosa,_" Lily said. The couch floated off of their hands. Lily brought it into the living room. She paused by one wall, then swung it towards the other. She began to set it down, but then moved it again, nearly hitting Peter. "Sorry."

"Of course, you have to live by Muggles," Sirius said, collapsing on the couch once it was on the ground.

"Come on, let's get the rest of the stuff," Remus said. "Maybe we can do Wingardium Leviosa, but make it look like we're carrying it."

"You owe me," Sirius told James as they left.

A few hours later, Lily hooked up their phone. James still didn't know how to use it, but she used it to call her mom. She dialed her mom and dad's house while the guys relaxed after moving in all the furniture.

It took a few rings, but finally, her dad answered. "Hello?" he said in a hoarse voice.

"Hey, dad, it's me," Lily said. "I finally got my phone hooked back up."

"Hey," her dad said. He paused for a long time. "I was going to call you. . .last night. . .when. . ."

Lily gripped the phone card. "What?" she said. "What's wrong?"

"Your mother, she. . ." her dad trailed off. His voice was thick and hesitant. "Last night, she. . .we went to bed, and I realized it when I went to turn the light out - she's - Lily, she's gone."

Lily closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Her head began throbbing. "Oh," she said quietly. "I'm going to come over there."

"Okay," her dad said. "I've got to go."

He hung up before she could say anything else. She slowly put the phone on the hook, tears coming to her eyes. It couldn't be real. Maybe she was dreaming. She had dreamt about hearing the news of her mother's death before. She closed her eyes again, and tears started to stream down her cheeks. Somehow, she knew it was true, that somewhere, her mom's body lay lifeless.

* * *

The funeral was quiet and depressing. James sat in the front row of the church next to Lily. She held his hand, crying quietly the whole time. Towards the end of the service, people stood up and talked about Mrs. Evans.

After at least ten people had said something, Lily stood up and looked at everyone with a small smile. "Well, I want to thank you all for coming," she said. "It would mean a lot to my mom. I'm going to miss her. . ."

She paused, biting her lip. "She had a good life," she said. "She left behind a lot of love."

Lily paused again, but then decided to sit down. James patted her on the back. He wished magic could take people back from the dead.

The reception was at their house. Lily's dad had tried to keep it light, but it didn't change the fact that it was a funeral reception. Lily's sister and her husband ignored Lily and James, but Lily didn't seem to mind. She talked to old family friends and exchanged stories about her mom. She told people that she was studying to become a nurse, and she would definitely keep in touch.

Afterwards, Lily helped her dad clean up. James did what he could, feeling awkward around the mourning family. Petunia wouldn't make eye contact, not that he tried or anything. Her husband sat in the living room watching television and chuckling to himself.

"Okay, dad, we should probably go," Lily said. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Lily," her dad said. They hugged. James hated seeing her like this, and if he could keep anyone else from dying, he would.

"Bye, Petunia," Lily said. "Goodbye, Vernon."

Vernon gave an awkward wave, and Petunia finally looked at her sister. "Goodbye, Lily," she said with a curt nod.

Lily paused, looking like she may want to say more. Petunia crossed her arms and stared at the ground. Lily took James's hand and they left.

Back in their flat, half of their boxes still unpacked, James made Lily a sandwich. "At least she didn't feel any pain," Lily said.

"Yeah," James said. "That's great." He cringed, wondering if he could say anything worse.

"I feel. . .I don't know," Lily said. "I think of all the people who have died in the war, and I'm just glad she didn't - that she wasn't murdered or something."

James nodded, handing her a plate with a sandwich on it. He sat down next to her. "I'm glad she wasn't, either," he said.

* * *

_Lily!_

_Hey, it is your bestest, most wonderful friend. I hope you enjoy the chocolates, I made them myself. Okay, not really, I had the house-elves in the kitchen make them. But I helped. Sort of. _

_Anyways, I'm really sorry about your mum. She was great, and I'm glad she got help from Louise to give her a little bit longer. If you need anything, just owl me, okay? Gods, I can't wait to be by you again! I used to see you every day, and I haven't seen you for months! _

_It's been a good year so far, but I miss you and Mary and even the guys. How are they? James and Sirius getting through training all right? I heard that you guys have been seeing Jewel lately. I heard she was working at an orphanage or something. How is she?_

_Look, like I said, ANYTHING, it's yours. More chocolates, Hogwarts gossip, a free Witch Weekly issue, etc. I've got your back. I'll be out for Christmas break! I want to see your flat, and you can make me dinner. We should all hang out. Maybe Mary can get us tickets to a game! Even though Sirius doesn't like the Arrows. _

_LOVE, love, love, love, _

_Marlene_

* * *

**_A/N: _**Please read and review! Thanks for all the past reviews :)

Next: Jewel and Sirius reunite (kind of), Sirius and Lily fight, Marlene visits for Christmas, and everyone goes to Club Charmed for a night of fun and revelry.


	8. Chapter 8: Coward

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Jewel gives Sirius some bad news, and he starts to rethink his choice in girls.

* * *

"Time to start a fire," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together.

Remus nodded. He wore a heavy jumper. Their heating charms were falling short in the snowy weather. They could hardly see outside past the white blur of snowflakes. Peter was bundled up in his blanket on the couch.

Sirius bent down in front of the fireplace and waved his wand. A fire started up, small at first, then gaining size. "All right," he clapped his hands.

There was a knock on the door. "Who's that?" Peter asked.

Sirius opened the door. It was Jewel, bundled up in a brown coat and Ravenclaw scarf. "Hey," he said. "Come on in!"

Jewel smiled at him. "Thanks."

"What are you doing out in the cold?" Sirius asked.

"Visiting you," Jewel said. She smiled at Remus and Peter, then looked back at Sirius. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Sirius said. He led her towards his bedroom. It was a bit messy, but there was nothing incriminating out. "What's up?"

Jewel paused. "I'm moving to America tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Sirius repeated.

"Yeah," Jewel said. "Juniper and I just decided today. We're taking Elizabeth Jones, the girl at the orphanage. The war is just getting too big, and. . ."

Sirius paused, gazing at her. She had bits of snow in her hair, and her eyes were sad. "Tomorrow?" he said again.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Jewel said. "I just wanted to tell you. I know we haven't seen each other too much since we left Hogwarts, but I thought. . .you know. . ."

Sirius wasn't sure how to respond. She was moving? Because of the war? He was more shocked than he should be, really. He thought of the Halloween party, when she and Juniper Disapparated. He thought of how he had once thought of her joining the Order, and then knowing she wouldn't go for it.

"Because of the war?" he said. "Are you — I mean, why don't you guys stay and fight with us?"

Jewel looked at the ground. "Sirius, I'm not a fighter like you." She paused, meeting his eyes. "But I'm not a coward, either."

Sirius shrugged, slightly disagreeing. Jewel looked annoyed. "Look, I'm completely hopeless at Defense, I would last about —" she cut off, rolling her eyes. "This is stupid, I don't know why I'm defending myself."

"Because you don't want to be called a coward, it's understandable."

"Look, I came here in the snow —"

"To tell me you were running away," Sirius finished for her. He was getting more annoyed by the second. He felt stupid for thinking differently. He had gone out with her for a year or so; he should have known.

"Nothing is ever good enough for you, is it?" Jewel snapped. "You don't want someone committed to you —"

Sirius scoffed. "Oh, like you ever tried."

"Because I knew you would dump me after a month," Jewel said. "If you heard about me flirting with Kingsley, you would freak out, but if I talked to you more than three times a week, you'd avoid me."

"That is a load of —"

"You know what, forget it." Her cheeks were flushed with anger.

"No," Sirius said, "really, I want to hear this. Have you been keeping this all on your chest since we broke up?"

"No, but talking to you again has reminded me of how utterly annoying you are."

"Please, continue," Sirius said. "It's entertaining."

Jewel suddenly slapped him. Sirius touched his cheek in shock, then stared at her. He had never seen her so angry. "I don't understand what you want from me," Jewel yelled.

"I don't want anything!" Sirius exclaimed. "What have I ever asked from you?"

Jewel paused, staring at him. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Sirius didn't understand how that could be such a horrible thing, but Jewel just shook her head. "I'm leaving," she said.

She started to walk towards his bedroom door. "Going off to tell Shacklebolt now?" Sirius asked.

"It was his idea," Jewel said, walking out.

Sirius stood there for a moment, then followed her. "His idea?" he repeated.

Jewel turned around. "Yes! What does it matter to you?"

"Why does he want you to go?"

"Because he _cares _about me, not about making me into someone I'm not," Jewel snapped. She stormed out, leaving Sirius there, staring at the door in dazed shock.

Finally, Sirius spun around and walked to the refrigerator. Peter and Remus were playing cards at the kitchen table, pretending that they hadn't heard anything. Sirius looked at their bare fridge, his mind not on food but females. Why couldn't they all be like Lily or Dorcas or Marlene?

Sirius turned around and leaned on the kitchen table. "Has Marlene written you lately?" he asked.

"No, I just sent her a letter yesterday," Remus said, his eyes on his cards. He hesitated. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Sirius said with a shrug. He grabbed a bag of potato chips from the counter and sat down.

"Your cheek is pink," Peter observed.

* * *

"It's not that crazy," James said with the shake of his head. "I'd be ecstatic if Lily moved to America."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You're completely missing the point."

Lily also rolled her eyes. The guys were over for dinner, and Sirius was complaining about his encounter with Jewel the previous night. Lily scooped out some butter and plopped it in the mashed potatoes.

"What's the point?" James asked.

"She's actually going!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well, Jewel isn't like that," Lily said over her shoulder. "It's not like she's a bad person for leaving, Sirius. A lot of people are leaving right now."

"Well, why?" Sirius asked. "Why can't they stay and fight?"

Lily let out a sigh. She heard James reply, "I don't know."

"That's right," Sirius said. "No one knows why. I mean, we all have a hunch, but no one wants to say the C-word."

"Except for you, right, Sirius?" Lily said sharply. She put the potatoes on the table, shooting Sirius a glare. Sometimes he was so arrogant, she wanted to hit him. Sometimes she did, but usually, she restrained herself. Tonight, she was considering throwing her roast in his face.

"I didn't say it," Sirius said.

"Oh, come on," Lily said. "Sirius, you don't fool anyone."

"Okay, fine, why shouldn't I called her a coward?" Sirius asked. "She's running away from the war — she's deciding not to fight!"

"People are entitled to make that choice," Lily snapped. "Just because she won't throw herself up against a Death Eater doesn't make her a coward. She's taking that girl in —"

"Who cares about that girl?" Sirius scoffed.

"Her parents probably did!" Lily exclaimed. Peter and Remus were now watching them argue as they sat on the couch in the living room. She ignored them, her face flushing. "How can you be so arrogant?"

Sirius put his hands up in defense, a smirk on his face. "Oh, I was wondering when you would use that word."

"If you had a girl that age, would you want her living in some orphanage?" Lily asked.

"I'd rather have someone prevent another girl get her parents killed —"

"Right, well some people would just be killing themselves," Lily said harshly. "Would you really want someone to die just so you could sleep with her without guilt?"

Sirius stared at her, looking disgusted. "You think that's what this is all about?" he demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, tell me, Sirius, what it's _really _all about."

"The fact that Jewel and Juniper are just running out on us!" Sirius exclaimed. "They couldn't try to learn more spells or get better at defense? No, just because they didn't get top marks on a NEWT, they have to —"

"Lily, I think —"

"James, don't," Lily said.

"No, the vegetables are boiling over," James said, pointing to the stove.

Lily turned around and saw the water boiling over, hissing as it touched the burner. She lifted up the pot and turned down the heat. She took a moment to take in a deep breath. "If she had stayed, Sirius, how long would it have been before you had her again?" she asked, staring down into the pot.

"That's what you think of me, then?" Sirius asked. She could hear the smirk in his voice. "Yes, I'll just screw anyone who'll fight on our side."

Lily shook her head. Until he convinced her otherwise, yes, that was exactly what she thought.

"I haven't gotten any action since September," Sirius said, acting as though she had hurt his feelings.

Lily turned around and put the vegetables on the table. She took out the roast. "Let's eat before I throw something at him."

The dinner was tense, and Sirius went on acting like nothing had happened. Lily couldn't understand how one person could be so infuriating, especially when he was such a good friend of hers. When she sat in the study of that manor, wondering if she would die, she thought of the last things she would have said to James, Marlene, her parents, Sirius, Remus. And right now, she wanted to hex him to the stars.

Afterwards, Lily went to her room while they stayed in the living room. It took about half an hour for James to come check on her. "Come in," she said.

It wasn't James, but Sirius. Lily sighed. "What?"

Sirius crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "She was going out with Kingsley."

"Would that have stopped you?" Lily asked.

Sirius paused. "Well, it didn't stop him," he said with a shrug.

Lily shook her head. "Do you know what the word womanizer means?"

"I'm not that bad!" Sirius said defensively.

"Jewel, Candace, Katie, that girl you met at that club in September —"

"I'm nineteen, what do you expect?" Sirius asked.

"James is nineteen," Lily said matter-of-factly.

"James is like twenty-four mentally," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.

Lily just shook her head in response.

"Okay, fine, he's not," Sirius said. "But —"

Lily braced herself, and just said what had been on her chest all night. "Just stay away from Marlene."

Sirius looked completely taken aback, and this happened very rarely. Lily wanted to take a picture to remember the first time she had seen Sirius speechless in months. "What?" he finally said.

Lily looked away from him. "Sirius, you're a good guy, but. . .don't — please, not Marlene, okay?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't what you're smoking, Lily, but Marlene is not even. . ." he trailed off. "Not even on the map — not even — no, never."

Lily pursed her lips. She didn't believe him, but she had a hard time believing a lot of what Sirius said. "Good." She got up from her bed. "What are you guys doing out there?"

"Exploding Gobstones," Sirius said. "We've mixed Exploding Snap and Gobstones into one game. It's awesome, Remus is covered in gunk already."

* * *

Marlene could hardly wait to get to James and Lily's. Since they lived in a Muggle neighborhood and had anti-Disapparition Charms on their place, she had to Floo to a candy shop down the street. She walked through the Muggle streets, wrapped up in her coat and scarf.

She finally got to flat number 315 and knocked frantically on the door. "Coming!" she heard a voice on the other side.

The door swung open. "Lily!" Marlene exclaimed. She threw her arms around her friend. "Oh, it is sooooo good to see you!"

"Come in!" Lily said.

"Oh, my gosh, it's so cute in here!" Marlene said. Lily's flat was adorable. Everything matched, from the rug to the candles. Warm, earthy colors. Lily's Muggle things with James's Quidditch obsession. It all looked so cozy.

Marlene hung up her coat. "Okay, I'm dropping out of Hogwarts and moving in with you guys."

"Hey, Marlene!" James said, coming out of the bedroom.

"James!" Marlene gave him a hug. "This place is great!"

"Thanks," Lily said. She was glowing. God, Marlene missed her. "You want some tea?"

They sat around the living room, drinking tea and eating biscuits. They talked about Marlene's seventh year, and Lily and James' jobs. Marlene felt like she had been gone for a year. "I'm so jealous," she said. "I wish I was done with school already!"

"Me, too," Lily said. "It can get boring without you."

"Do you hang out with Mary a lot?" Marlene asked.

Lily shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I've seen her a few times. It's mostly just work and the. . ." she trailed off and bit her lip. "Yeah, it's just busy."

"Yeah," Marlene said. "Last night was Slughorn's Christmas Party, and it sucked without you guys there."

"Who did you go with?" Lily asked as James laughed.

"Greg Britt," Marlene said. He had gotten her a flower, and they had spent the night talking about Quidditch and Charms. "He's a Ravenclaw in my year. He's nice, but I don't know. I think he kind of wants to go out. I don't know how to turn him down."

"What's wrong with him?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, he's kind of boring," Marlene said.

"You should go out with him."

Marlene laughed. Lily sipped her tea, a serious look on her face. "What?" she said when she noticed Marlene's look.

"She doesn't like him," James said.

Lily sent James a glare. "What's the harm in trying it out?" she asked. She looked at Marlene with a shrug. "You never know until you try."

Marlene exchanged glances with James, smirking. She didn't know what Lily was on about, but she decided to change the subject. "Hey, I heard Jewel and Juniper moved to America," she said.

Lily slammed her teacup down. "I'm going to get more biscuits."

"Who'd you hear that from?" James asked as Lily walked into the kitchen.

"Remus," Marlene said. "Hey, we should all go do something. Maybe we can go to Club Charmed! You guys missed it last time. It was really fun!"

"Going to get drunk and snog Soviet guys again?" James asked with a grin.

"Maybe I will," Marlene said, tilting her head.

Lily came back with more biscuits, even though they had plenty. Marlene exchanged glances with James again. James just shrugged, even though Marlene knew he must know what was bothering Lily.

"Here we go," Lily said. "How's your family, Marlene?"

After they had a light lunch, Lily and Marlene decided to go Christmas shopping. Once they were through The Leaky Cauldron, Marlene carefully planned her words. "So, are you all right?"

"What?" Lily said. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You seemed a little odd when we were talking about Greg," Marlene said. "And the Mufflet girls."

"Oh, I just. . ." Lily trailed off. "Sirius was just complaining about Jewel leaving, and I just didn't — you know — I'm just tired of hearing about it."

"Oh," Marlene said. She chewed on her bottom lip. "Does he still like her?"

"I don't know," Lily said, sounding annoyed. "Sirius likes everyone."

Marlene chuckled. "We should really go to Club Charmed tonight. You can get your groove on with James."

"My groove?" Lily repeated with a laugh. "They don't play disco music, do they?"

"What's disco?"

* * *

That night, Sirius and Marlene had somehow persuaded everyone to go to Club Charmed. Remus was fairly sure his least favorite part of said persuasion was when Peter said, "Why don't you two go by yourself if you want to go so bad?" and Sirius and Marlene had looked at each other, speechless, and Lily said, "No! We'll go with you guys!"

They were now waiting in a long line to get inside. Marlene stood by Remus, wearing a black mini skirt with black tights on. Her legs looked extremely long and slim. He wasn't sure if he wanted to look at them or her glittery eyes or the floor. He instead fixed his eyes on the back of James's head.

Every time she moved, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It had been almost a year, but he remembered taking her to the Room of Requirement. He remembered that scent hitting his nostrils as he kissed her neck.

He cleared his throat, his face flushing. "You had to wear that perfume?" he muttered to her.

Marlene looked at him with wide eyes. Before she could respond, it was their turn to enter.

Inside, Club Charmed was just as loud as Remus remembered. Sirius and James led them straight to the bar. Predictably, the two of them got firewhiskeys. Marlene leaned on the bar, smiling at the bartender. "What do you recommend?"

The bartender, his hair charmed blue, smiled back at her and said, "Perhaps a Fire of Veela?"

"All right!" Marlene exclaimed. She pointed to Lily. "Give us two."

Lily looked like she may object, but then grinned and rolled her eyes. After Peter and Remus got drinks, they searched the crowded club for a table. They finally found one hidden in the corner.

"You try it first," Lily told Marlene.

Marlene tentatively took a sip. "It's good. A little sour."

"Watch out for thick, burly Soviets," Sirius said.

"And French girls," Marlene said, smirking.

Soon, the girls were dancing. James watched them warily. "I swear, if any guy hits on her. . ." James trailed off.

"We got your back," Sirius said. He paused, glancing at Remus. "Why'd you and Marlene break up?"

Remus stared at him, blinking in shock. "What?"

"You and Marlene, what happened?" Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head and shrugged. "What — why do you care all of a sudden? It was like a year ago. She just — we just didn't — there was too much stuff, I guess."

Sirius took a drink of his firewhiskey. "Yeah," he said, nodding as though he understood.

"I'm going to go dance," James said. "That blond guy is creeping me out."

"Me, too," Sirius added. "I'm going to go find me a cute French girl."

Remus was relieved when they both left. He and Peter were left to drink and talk. They started to talk about the Order, and then why Gideon and Dorcas didn't get along. The gossip didn't hold them for very long, though. They played a drinking game, then Peter Conjured up a deck of cards. They ignored the strange looks and played some of the games Lily had taught them.

Remus left to get them new drinks about an hour after they had arrived. On the way back from the bar, he saw Marlene and Sirius dancing. He decided to ignore this and returned to Peter.

They were playing another game, but Remus couldn't concentrate. Peter started to look annoyed. "Come on, you're not even trying," Peter said.

"Yes, I am," Remus replied.

"You haven't liked her for months!" Peter exclaimed.

"Who?" Remus asked indignantly.

Peter rolled his eyes. "What does it matter? It's just Sirius, he's not going to go after her." He paused. "And if he does, it'll last a month."

Remus stared at the cards in front of them. It may have been the wisest piece of advice Peter had ever given him.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews and follows! If you like, please review :)

Next up: Christmas with the Longbottoms is ruined by those pesky Death Eaters.


	9. Chapter 9: The Leaky Cauldron

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Our friends are having a fun NEw Year's Eve party, but they're soon interrupted.

* * *

Lily smiled as James started playing with her hair. Her head in his lap, she was listening as his parents talked about Hogwarts when they had students. It had been years ago, before even Dumbledore had attended.

"I can't believe we've lasted this long," Mr. Potter said with a smile on his face.

"Me, neither," Mrs. Potter replied. "I'll go check on those cookies."

"Remember last Christmas?" James asked Lily.

"Getting attacked by giants?" Lily said. "Actually, yes, I remember that quite well."

"I remember getting attacked by your sister," Sirius said. He was laying in front of the fireplace. The light from the fire made the angles in his face sharp and unsettling.

Lily and James had had the pleasure of avoiding Petunia today. She had left just as they had arrived at her father's house. The three of them had opened presents by the tree, and Lily had cooked a Christmas turkey. It was her first Christmas without her mum. Everything had felt off, but she had still enjoyed herself.

Mrs. Potter came back in, a smile on her face. "They'll be cooled off in a few minutes," she announced. She sat down next to Mr. Potter and picked up her knitting needles. "Sirius, do you have a girlfriend yet?"

Sirius rolled over onto his stomach. "I don't believe in girlfriends."

"Oh, really?" Mrs. Potter asked, raising her eyebrows. "What do you believe in?"

Sirius paused. "Having fun."

"I see," Mrs. Potter said. "And Remus? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"He doesn't believe in girlfriends, either," Sirius said. "Peter does, but he doesn't have the best luck. Hell, he doesn't even try. We all went to the club, and he and Remus played cards the whole time!"

Mrs. Potter laughed. "They just need to find some girls who like playing cards, too."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "They need to loosen up."

Mr. Potter looked up from yesterday's newspaper. "Were they having fun?"

"Looked like it," Lily said. "Not everyone has to get tossed and take home random girls."

"You took a girl home?" Mrs. Potter asked Sirius.

"No," Sirius lied. "Well, yes, she did come over, but we played cards with Remus and Peter."

Lily rolled her eyes as the Potters laughed. Peter looked half-asleep when they were getting ready to leave Club Charmed. To her relief, Marlene didn't seem to care about Sirius' attachment, a girl with short black hair and too much lipstick. She couldn't recall her name, but she was sure Sirius couldn't, either.

* * *

"Something small," Alice repeated.

"Yeah, it'll just be a few of us," Lily said. "Marlene, the guys, you and Frank. Come over in like an hour, okay?"

"Okay," Alice said.

Lily grinned, then her head disappeared from Alice's fireplace. Alice sighed a little bit. She stood up and called for Frank. She found him in the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Frank said with a smile.

"We could clean this later, you know," Alice said. "It's New Year's Eve."

"Yeah." Frank paused. "How are you feeling?"

Alice rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. He had asked her that about a thousand times already. When she woke up that morning, she lay in bed, feeling sick to her stomach. It had been two years–two years since she found her brother and her grandmother dead in her house. Her brother would have been fourteen. It had taken her a moment to get out of bed, and Frank had watched her intently all day.

"I'm fine." She sat down at the kitchen table. "Really, I am."

Frank nodded. He sat down next to her, touching her hand. "I just want to make sure you're all right," he said softly.

"I know." Alice kissed his knuckles. "I just talked to Lily. She invited us over."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

Alice hit his knee. "It's something small. Don't worry, we've all learned from Halloween."

Frank let out a yawn, but Alice could tell it was forced. "Stop it," Alice said. "I'm going, I don't care if you do."

"All right." Frank sighed. "I thought we were going to go to bed early."

"Whatever," Alice rolled her eyes. "Last year, I had to drag you home from Gideon's place. I know you had the same plans tonight."

Frank paused. "Maybe we could invite them."

"I guess," Alice said. "It's Lily's house, not ours."

Frank fell silent. "Right. Well, my dear Alice, I think I'll go take a shower. Would you like to join me?"

Alice giggled. "I normally would, but I don't want to have to deal with my hair."

Frank merely shook his head while leaving the kitchen. Alice smiled after him. She loved living with Frank. Parts of it took getting used to–Frank liked sleeping with the window open, and he always left the shower curtain open. Most of the time, though, it felt completely natural.

An hour later, they Flooed to the candy shop near Lily's. They walked through a Muggle neighborhood to their flat building.

"You've been here before?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, once," Alice said. "It's a cute place. Smaller than their last one, though."

They knocked on door 315, and James answered, holding a wine glass. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Come on in!"

After hanging up their coats, Alice gave Lily a hug. It was a small get-together–Marlene, Lily and James, and James's friends. There was music playing and a few wine bottles floating around. Lily poured them drinks, and then asked them how the holiday was.

"It was pretty good," Alice said. "How was yours?"

"It was a bit odd," Lily said honestly. "First holiday without my mum."

Alice nodded understandingly. "I know how you feel." She raised her glass. "To those who have passed on."

Everyone drank to that. "Let's play truth or dare," Sirius said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"How old are you?" Alice asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Nineteen," Sirius answered. "How old are you, forty?"

"All right, I'm game," Alice said evenly.

"I don't like playing truth or dare with you," Peter said to Sirius, shaking his head.

"Do you ever play truth or dare with anyone else?" James asked.

Peter paused, looking thoughtful. "No," he admitted.

"I'll go first," Marlene said.

"What?" Sirius said. "It was my idea!"

"Lily, truth or dare?" Marlene asked, ignoring Sirius.

Alice had fun in spite of herself. She kissed Frank in front of everyone, saw too much of Sirius' rear end, and learned about James' first girlfriend. After truth or dare, they started talking, playing games, and playing with the music.

It was about eleven thirty when Gideon's Patronus, a German Shepherd, stormed in through the window and said, "Frank! There's an attack at The Leaky Cauldron!"

Right after his came Dorcas's with the same message for Lily and James. Everyone stood up, the jovial mood suddenly changed. Marlene stopped the record. "What was that?" she asked with wide eyes.

"An alert for Aurors," Sirius said. "You should stay here."

"Bullocks!" Alice heard as she grabbed her shoes and her coat.

"Marlene, maybe you should go home," Remus said.

"No," she said firmly, putting on her coat.

"Let's just go," Lily said, locking the door.

They Apparated to The Leaky Cauldron into the middle of chaos. Spells flew through the air. People were screaming, Disapparating, but there were a few people fighting against the Death Eaters. Alice yelled out a Stunning spell on the back of a man who seemed to have the advantage against an orange-haired teenager. The man fell to the ground. Frank ran to his side. "Alice, take him to the caves," he said.

Alice did so, tying him up as soon as she got there. She Apparated back to the Leaky Cauldron as soon as she could. As soon as she landed on her feet, she was thrown back into a table. She fumbled for her wand, which had fallen a foot away from her. Someone stepped on her wrist, making her cry out. She looked up at him, and recognized him–Rodolphus Lestrange. She kicked him in the shin. The shock made him lift his foot up for just a moment, but it was enough time for Alice to grab her wand.

Before she could throw a Stunning Spell at him, he yelled, "_Crucio_!"

Alice felt a wave of excruciating pain wash over her. She dropped her wand again, letting out a scream. When the pain stopped, there were stars in front of her eyes. She looked around, trying to find her wand, but she saw Frank and Lestrange dueling first.

She grabbed her wand again and stumbled to her feet. Frank and Lestrange were dueling viciously, but suddenly Lestrange Disapparated. Alice ran to Frank. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Frank said breathlessly. "Are you?"

"Yeah," Alice said. She looked around. The Death Eaters were gone. Only Order members remained, and four bodies on the ground.

"Is everyone all right?" Dorcas asked.

"No," Fabian said. "I've got to get Gideon to St. Mungo's."

A worried look came onto Dorcas' face. She ran to the Prewett twins and dropped to her knees next to Gideon, who was shaking on the ground. Sweat was breaking out on his forehead, and his skin looked green.

"I'll go, too," Peter said, his voice cracking. He held a broken arm.

Lily ran to him and touched his shoulder. "Be careful. We've got to go right away."

"We'll stay here and take care of the bodies," Sirius said, motioning to Remus.

"We'll go talk to Dumbledore," Frank said.

"Where's Tom?" James asked, looking around. The pub had been destroyed - tables and chairs broken and jugs of beer spilled on the ground.

A skinny man in the painting above the fireplace spoke. "H-He Disapparated. Tried to keep order for a bit, but then left."

"Damn," James said. "Lily, Peter, I'll meet you at St. Mungo's."

"Let's go," Frank took Alice's hand. He had a grim look on his face, the one Alice had gotten so used to seeing.

* * *

James looked around the pub. It was torn apart. "Well," he said.

Silently, they brought the four bodies to lie by the fireplace. They closed their eyes, which no longer saw. Marlene stood with her arms crossed, staring down at the three witches and one wizard. "So, this is what you've been doing?" she whispered.

Remus sighed. "Every now and then."

"Let's clean this place up for Tom," Sirius said.

They began to repair anything broken and bring tables and chairs to original positions. They cleaned the liquids and foods off of the table that must have been thrust off of the tables in a panic. James found a large pool of blood by the bar, and spatters on the nearby wall.

"Will Peter be all right?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah, Lily's a genius," James said. He paused, watching her move a rag over a dirty table with her wand, her hand quivering. "Will you be all right?"

Her brown eyes met his. "Yeah," she said, her voice shaking. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Right when the pub was beginning to look normal, Frank and Alice Apparated back. "Dumbledore wants us to take the bodies to the Ministry," he said. "He's getting Moody, he'll meet us there." He pulled a bundle out of his pocket. "He gave us a portkey so we could all go on in one shot."

"All right," James said. "We put the bodies over here."

They moved to the fireplace, and Frank half-glanced at Marlene.

James cleared his throat. "Um, Marlene," he began.

"No, I want to help you guys," Marlene said quickly.

"This is strictly Auror business," Frank said.

Marlene motioned to Remus, a look of disbelief on her face. "He's not an Auror!"

"Okay, it's not _Auror _business, per se," Frank said.

"Look, Marlene, you can't come," Sirius said. He paused, softening his voice. "I'll take you home."

Marlene looked taken aback. She then recovered and said, "I don't want to go home; I want to stay here."

"I'm sorry," Sirius said. "Come on, we should just leave it to them."

Marlene had an annoyed look on her face, but she seemed to know she wasn't going to win this. "Okay." She paused, looking at Remus. She looked like she was about to say something, but then she turned away. "Let's go."

They Disapparated from the door of the pub. Frank turned back to James and Remus. "You heard her," he said. "Let's go."

* * *

Sirius could feel the anger seeping off of Marlene as she walked down the street. Outside, the Muggle world was celebrating the new year. Marlene stayed two steps ahead of him.

"Come on, Marlene," Sirius grabbed her arm.

Marlene jerked away from him. "Don't. I just–I just went there and fought with you guys and got Crucio'd–and I'm still treated like a child–"

"It's dangerous," Sirius said.

"And throwing myself in front of a Death Eater isn't?" Marlene snapped.

"Calm down, there are Muggles around," Sirius said quietly.

Marlene glared at him. "I want to know what's going on. Why were Lily and Remus and Peter all there when they aren't Aurors? Where was Mad-Eye Moody and my dad and my brothers? Why didn't they call for them?"

Sirius sighed. He knew he couldn't tell her about the Order, but it was becoming increasingly hard to keep it from her. "It's just–you don't have to be an Auror to fight," he said. "The Prewett twins and Dorcas know that we're good fighters."

"You've been through four months of training, Sirius," Marlene said. "You could be killed. Peter and Remus–they haven't been through any!"

"Just consider it. . .another form of Aurors," Sirius said.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Look, Aurors are Dark Wizard catchers. Peter works for the Daily Prophet. Lily trains at St. Mungo's."

"So, they can't fight?" Sirius asked.

"Of course they can!" Marlene exclaimed. "They damn well should, but they're going to get themselves killed."

"You could have gotten yourself killed," Sirius said, raising his voice. "We told you to stay behind, but the seventh year wanted to go."

"I–" Marlene began, but she fell short. "That's. . .different."

"Oh, really?" Sirius asked, smirking.

Marlene glared at him again. "I want to slap you." She turned around, walking at a slower pace.

"Where are we?" Sirius asked.

"Not far from Aberdeen," Marlene answered. They started to walk into a quieter, darker part of town. She paused. "Thanks for walking me home. I would have been scared shitless."

"No problem. You didn't get too hurt, did you?"

Marlene shook her head. "A crucio, a sectumsempra -"

"Where?"

Marlene stopped walking and showed him her forearm. He took her hand in his, looking down at her pale skin. It was already healed, but there was a small scar. "Not too bad," Sirius said softly.

Marlene shook her head, gently taking her hand away from him. "Only a few blocks left."

They walked in silence, passing a flat building, a few light posts, a playground. Marlene finally stopped in front of a house with the lights on. "This is my place."

There was a large tree in the front lawn, its branches waving in the breeze, black against the starry sky. Marlene crossed her arms tightly in front of her. "So, along with my family, I have to worry about all my friends."

"Don't worry about us," Sirius told her. "Don't worry about anything but your seventh year."

"Easier said than done," Marlene said.

Sirius fell silent, digging his hands deeper into his pockets. It was cold out here, but he didn't want to leave just yet. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Will I see you again before I got back to Hogwarts?" Marlene asked.

"When are you going back?"

"Tomorrow at noon," Marlene said with a small laugh.

"I don't know if I'll be awake by then," Sirius said, smirking.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Well, then I'll see you at Easter hols."

"Yeah, sounds good."

She closed the distance between them and hugged him. "Be careful," she whispered.

"Of course," he said as she pulled away. "Goodnight."

"Bye," she said. "Thanks for walking me home."

"Anytime," Sirius said. He watched her walk up the pathway to the front door.

Marlene turned around. "You'll get home all right?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, smiling.

She backed away, nodding her head. "Goodnight," she said. She went inside, and he saw her silhouette against the window of the front room before she turned out the light.

* * *

**A/N: **Please R&R :)

A few quotes from the next chapter:

"He often thought of how McKey would fire him on the spot if he figured out how much information he told Dorcas, but he often thought about how disappointed the Order would be if he never had anything to share."

"He told Lily he'd be over at Sirius's, but Sirius was still in the Muggle town they'd been all night. His ears were ringing with the screams of men who knew no more."


	10. Chapter 10: Aftermath

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **Peter hates his job, and James does something for the Order that he regrets.

* * *

Peter couldn't believe how boring this job was. Although, if he had to choose between fighting Death Eaters for twenty minutes and an eight hour day at work, he'd choose work. Not only was breaking your arm painful, but expensive. Lily hadn't been able to get Peter too much of a discount, so he had to wait until Friday to pay off St. Mungo's. At least at the _Daily Prophet_, he got paid for sitting around all day.

"Peter, can you send these owls out?" a voice broke into his thoughts.

The co-editor, Nigel McKey, was standing in front of his desk. There was a new pile of papers on his desk. "The secretary is out today, so we'll need you to take minutes at today's staff meeting," he said. "That's at two."

It wasn't even two yet?

"Can you get me a new cauldron, too?" McKey asked. He dropped a small bag of gold on the desk. "You can go after the meeting."

"Sure thing, sir," Peter said.

McKey looked pleased and walked back into his office. Instead of an office, Peter had a desk in the corridor next to the rest of the reporters. Rita Skeeter, known for her articles of ruthlessness and half-truths, was two cubicles down. Peter thought the reporter in the cubicle behind him was quite pretty, but she was engaged.

Peter picked up the letters and began to put them in envelopes. His handwriting had gotten considerably better since he started working here. McKey demanded that he practice lines after work for the first week.

One of the letters was addressed to Lucius Malfoy. Peter glanced around, then read the letter. McKey was thanking him for the interview about the attack on the Leaky Cauldron and the large donation he had made to the _Prophet_. Peter made a note of this to tell Dorcas. He often thought of how McKey would fire him on the spot if he figured out how much information he told Dorcas, but he often thought about how disappointed the Order would be if he never had anything to share. He wondered if they would eventually kick him out, saying thanks, but he wasn't very much use. Hell, he had broken that arm.

He moved his arm around gingerly, but it no longer hurt. The Healer had healed it only twenty minutes after he showed up. He took a pain potion three times over the next twenty-four hours, and then it would be back to normal.

Someone slammed his hands on his desk, making Peter swear loudly.

Sirius cracked up laughing.

Peter glared at him, looking around to see if anyone had heard him. "Not funny."

"When's your lunch break?" Sirius asked. "Lily is taking us to a Muggle restaurant in Manchester."

Peter looked at the clock. "Another twenty minutes," he groaned.

Sirius pulled a business card out of his pocket. "Meet us there. Apparate to Manny's Animal Shop and walk two blocks."

"All right," Peter said. "Order something for me."

Thirty-five minutes later, he found the restaurant. Lily, James, and Sirius were sitting at a booth by the wall. They had two medium pizzas before them. "Awesome," Peter said. "Gosh, that job is boring."

"Dig in," Sirius said.

Peter grabbed a piece of pepperoni.

"We should go to Italy again," James said. "You two should come. And Remus, of course."

"Marlene, too," Lily added.

After finishing his first slice, Peter asked, "Have the twins found anything out from that Death Eater?"

"Nope," James said, shaking his head. "He doesn't want to talk."

"Who is it again?" Peter asked.

"Rabastan Lestrange," James said. "Rodolphus' brother."

"Right," Peter said. He faintly remembered the dark-haired brothers from the meeting they had after Halloween. "He married Sirius' cousin."

"Rodolphus did," Sirius said. "I don't know what he was thinking, either."

"Maybe he didn't want to be alone for the rest of his life," Peter said.

James laughed. "It was an act of desperation."

"Exactly," Peter said, his mouth full of pizza.

* * *

James watched Lily as she slept. She seemed peaceful. Her red hair fell over her shoulders. Her hair fascinated him. It was thick; the strands the color of wine, but there were some that caught the light and seemed gold. Her face had soft, light freckles across her cheeks. How did he land her?

Thudding footsteps interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and saw the mystery man coming out of the kitchen. Dumbledore called him Rook; he was one of the Order members they didn't see very often. He seemed twice James's size and wore a black cloak.

The three of them were assigned to watch Rabastan Lestrange for the night. He was currently tied up in a different room of the caves.

"Hey," James said to Rook. "Anything good in the kitchen?"

Rook shook his head. "Empty cupboards. I guess it's because no one lives here."

"Yeah," James said, shrugging. "So. . .Rook, huh?"

Rook smirked. "Yeah. James and Lily Potter?"

James nodded.

"How long have you been married?" Rook asked.

"Five months," James said. "You ever been married?"

"Yeah," Rook said softly. He paused, sitting down in the armchair by the couch. "What about kids?"

James let out a laugh. "Not for a long while. There's the war, and then. . .well, I guess that's all. We should probably get through training first."

Rook nodded. "That makes sense." He stood up and walked over to the small bookcase they had in the caves. James noticed a long scar running down the side of his face that disappeared into his shirt. The man grabbed a book and sat down.

James looked at Lily again. Her feet were resting on his lap. He touched her leg softly, feeling a wave of protection wash over him.

The next few hours passed by uneventfully. Rook said he'd let James sleep for a few hours, but he couldn't get to sleep. He thumbed through a Quidditch magazine he had brought.

There was a sudden loud noise, snapping James out of his slumber. Lily looked around, confused. There were _pops! _and suddenly, there were people inside of the cave. James grabbed his wand.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" one of them yelled.

James flung himself in front of Lily, but the spell had been directed towards Rook. The massive man fell, his life ended. They were surrounded. James threw a Stunning spell, but a Cruciatus Curse hit him first. He fell back, yelling in pain. As soon as it was over, he knew what he had to do. He grabbed Lily and Disapparated.

They landed in Sirius' house, the first place James thought of. "James, Rook–" Lily began.

"He was dead," James said. "I know we could have stayed to fight, but I. . ."

Lily nodded, an intense look in her eyes. "Let's go to Dumbledore. They have to know we lost Lestrange and Rook. And the headquarters."

Sirius came into the living room with his wand, wearing nothing but his boxers. When he saw it was only Lily and James, he took a deep breath of relief. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"The headquarters was found out somehow," James said. "Rook's dead."

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"We have to go to Dumbledore," Lily said.

"Yeah," James said.

"You'll be all right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," James said, taking Lily's hand.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going back to bed."

* * *

_Remus, _

_I just wanted to say thank you for pretty much saving my life when we were fighting at The Leaky Cauldron. I could be dead if it weren't for you. That's scary to think of, isn't it?_

_Anyways, how is your new year going so far? I have homework, Slytherin drama, and Quidditch practices. Nothing too exciting. I probably should go to my Charms reading. I'll talk to you later._

_Marlene_

* * *

The snow fell slowly, descending through the air at a lazy pace. There was no wind, but it was a bitterly cold night. James shivered, rubbing his hands together, though he could hardly feel them. He walked into the Three Broomsticks, his teeth chattering. His clothes were soaked; he was chilled to the bone. He didn't know if he'd ever be warm again.

He reveled in the warm air of the pub, and breathed in the familiar scent of butterbeer and scones. He walked across the pub as he stripped off his damp jacket. He slipped into a booth in the corner, dropping his jacket on the seat next to him and hardly taking in his surroundings.

Swallowing, he glanced around the pub. It was quite empty. The attack on The Leaky Cauldron had driven people back into their homes. James didn't mind. He felt like being alone, away from questions and accusing glances. He pulled out his wand, slowly drying his clothes.

James closed his eyes. The back of his eyelids were red. He was exhausted. He knew he should be somewhere he could sleep. He told Lily he'd be over at Sirius's, but Sirius was still in the Muggle town they'd been all night. His ears were ringing with the screams of men who knew no more.

"James Potter?"

Nearly jumping out of his skin, James pointed his wand at Madam Rosmerta. Warm air blew onto her from the tip of his wand. He let out a breath. "Sorry," he said, his heart pounding. His voice sounded odd to his ears. "I'm sorry, Madam Rosmerta. I'm a little on edge tonight."

"I haven't seen you for a while," Madam Rosmerta said in a gentle voice.

James turned his wand back unto himself, working on drying his clothes. He shrugged. "I've been busy."

"Are you wet?" Madam Rosmerta asked. "Is it snowing that hard outside?"

"No." James shook his head. "I mean, yes, I am wet. But not from the snow."

Madam Rosmerta nodded, looking at him steadily. He wished she would leave. "Um, can I get a firewhiskey?" James asked.

She nodded again, and a small smile crept unto her face. "Sure thing. I'll be right back."

She walked away, her heels clicking on the floor. James shivered again, leaning back in the booth. Warmth was slowly seeping through his body again. Parts of his body were numb to the point of tingling pain, but the cold was leaving his skin slowly. He closed his eyes again, leaning his head back.

He felt rather than heard Sirius before he slid into James's booth. James looked at his friend, swallowing. Sirius didn't look at him at first, but took off his coat and ran a hand through his hair. He looked over James's wand.

"Did you walk all the way here?" Sirius asked, his voice rough.

James nodded.

"You look a little blue," Sirius said. "Your lips, particularly."

"I'm freezing," James said, looking up at the ceiling.

"I offered you a change of clothes."

"Oh, good gods, Sirius," James said. He looked at Sirius, anger slowly replacing the numb feeling that had come over him since the two of them had gone out. They left after lunch for Dumbledore, looking for Death Eaters. They had found them, that was for sure. "Are you bloody kidding me?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Sorry. I won't offer you another one, if that'll help your temper."

James dropped his wand, forgetting about the drying spell. It was taking too long. He put his head in his hands. "I'm exhausted."

Madam Rosmerta came over with two firewhiskeys. "Here you go, boys. It's good to see you here again."

"Thanks, Madam Rosmerta," Sirius said, smiling at her. "It's good to be back."

After she left, James looked at Sirius as he swigged a drink. "I can't believe this," he said. "Are you being completely ridiculous just to tick me off?"

Sirius looked at James, a challenging look on his face. "Pardon?"

He wanted to yell at him, but he couldn't get the words out. _We just killed two men_. His voice seemed to die in his throat. Saying it out loud would make it too real. He didn't know how he would go back home, to Lily, pretending, or maybe not pretending.

James stood up. He rummaged through his pocket for a galleon or two, leaving more money than the firewhiskey cost. "I'll see you around."

"Are _you_ kidding me, James?" Sirius asked as James began to walk away.

Sirius got up from the booth, following him outside. "James," he called. "James, come on!"

"What, Sirius?" James asked, turning around. "You don't feel the same way? Didn't you think it'd be a little bit more satisfying to kill two Death Eaters?"

Sirius fell silent, looking up at the sky as the snow fell on his handsome face.

"Dumbledore thought that one of them was involved with the death of Harold Finnicky," James said. "One of them knew Snape. The other one kept insulting Lily –"

"I _know_, James," Sirius said.

"Then why do I feel like this?" James raised his voice. He shook his head. "I'm going home."

"James."

"_What_?" James said, his voice cracking.

Sirius paused. He seemed lost for words. "I'll drop by tomorrow," he finally said.

* * *

James walked into the flat he shared with Lily, stripping off wet clothes as he walked in. He had fallen into a lake earlier on tonight, wrestling with the man he had killed half an hour later.

He passed by their bed, in which Lily slept peacefully. He watched her lie there, her wavy hair around her head on the pillow. He pulled on a dry pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt, grateful for something dry against his frigid skin. He looked down at his fingers, the tips of them blue, and what had been stirring in his stomach all night rose up to his throat.

He made it to the bathroom just in time, bending over the toilet, and retching.

James sat there for a few minutes, staring down at his muck. He shuddered, wiping his mouth with a towel. He flushed the toilet and stumbled up to the sink. He turned on the faucet, his hands trembling.

"James?" a soft voice came from the door. "I thought you were staying at Sirius's."

James shook his head as he drank the water and spit it out and drank again and swallowed. "We got done earlier than we thought we would," he said.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked. "Do you have the flu?"

"I don't think so," James said. He took off his glasses, tossing them on the counter next to the sink. Lily walked over to him, running her hand over his hair. She touched her hand, and he shuddered.

"You're freezing," she whispered.

James shrugged. "Yeah. I'm exhausted, too."

"Come on, let's go to bed," Lily said, wrapping an arm around him. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Can you put a dreamless spell on me?" James asked.

"Sure, whatever you want," Lily said.

The two of them got into their bed. Lily lay close to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

James closed his eyes, shaking his head. He raised one of his arms, putting his hand above the top of his head.

"Will you look at me?" Lily asked.

James shook his head again. There was a moment of heavy silence. Lily's body was warm against his, spreading body heat through his blood better than any magic could.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and he didn't know if he was talking to Lily or his father or himself or the family of the Death Eater.

"Shhh," Lily said soothingly. She whispered her spell, and James fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The sound of breaking glass made James break out of his reverie. He looked up, surprised. Lily stood by the kitchen counter, staring down at the teacup and saucer she had just dropped.

"You okay?" he asked.

Lily looked at him with a hard look on her face. "I'm fine," she said, crossing her arms.

James cleared his throat. "Good," he said. He picked up his own tea, taking a sip of it.

After a moment of awkward silence, during which Lily merely stood there, James asked, "Do you want me to make you some more?"

"No," Lily said.

James ran a hand through his hair. He looked around their flat. His eyes fell on the calendar. Had it really been a week? It was almost the end of January, a whole month into the year 1979, and James felt like time had permanently slowed.

Lily hadn't moved. James reached for his wand across the table and picked up the tea and broken china. They floated up in the air, repairing themselves, and set down on the counter next to Lily. She looked at them steadily.

"Are you sure you're okay?" James asked.

"Let's see," Lily said, "you haven't talked to me for a week. You've been going on Order assignments I know nothing about. You're not talking to Sirius. Are you sure you should be asking me that question?"

James sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, James," Lily said. "What's going on with you?"

James shook his head. He stood up. "I should get going," he said.

Lily's eyes widened. "You said you weren't going in today," she said.

"I changed my mind," James said. He walked towards the bedroom, leaving her in the kitchen next to her repaired teacup.

She followed him. "I thought we were going to that restaurant tonight."

"When I get back," James said, grabbing his shoes.

"Oh, bollocks," Lily said. "Whenever you get back from. . .doing whatever the hell it is you're doing, you go straight to bed."

"That's not true," James said.

"James, come on!" Lily exclaimed. "All this month - ever since the attack on The Leaky Cauldron -"

James stood up, throwing up his hands. "What do you want me to do?" he asked. "Just tell Dumbledore to screw off? Tell the Prewett twins to ask Peter instead?"

Lily shrugged. "That wouldn't be that bad of an idea, would it?"

James grabbed his coat. "I'll be back later," he said.

Lily said nothing as he left the flat.

* * *

**A/N: **I did not desert this story. Well, to be honest, I haven't written any new material in MONTHS, but I have all these chapters sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded... so here they are :)


	11. Chapter 11: Trapped

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter):** James and Lily deal with James' actions for the Order, and Sirius is forced to go on a mission without his usual partner.

* * *

Lily sat at the kitchen table, holding her cold tea. The clock said it was nearly one o'clock. In the morning. This would be the fourth night in a row James got home past ten o'clock. She had dinner on the stove, but she didn't know why she had bothered.

She didn't know which worried her more: that he may be cheating on her or he may be spending this time with the Order.

The door opened, making her jump. James closed the door slowly. "Hey. . .I didn't think you'd be up."

"I couldn't sleep," Lily lied. She hadn't tried.

James probably caught on to this lie, looking at Lily's jeans.

"Anything new?" Lily asked. "I mean, with the Order. . . or Death Eaters. . ."

James just shook his head. He opened the fridge. He saw the food on the stove. "What did you make?" he asked.

"Chicken and rice," Lily said flatly.

"It looks good."

"James, can't we just talk?"

"About what?" His back was to her as he pulled out a plate.

"About. . .what you've been doing for the Order," Lily said.

"Just different things," James said, piling up some food.

Lily gritted her teeth, feeling more and more annoyed. She watched as James began to warm his food up with a wand. After it was to the temperature he desired, he sat down across from her and began eating.

"It would have been better at eight," she said.

"Yeah, I know," James said shortly.

Lily stood up and poured out her tea. She went to their bedroom to get ready for bed.

Ten minutes later, she was lying down when James came in. The light on his lamp stand was still on. He began to get undressed. She watched as he took off his jacket and then his t-shirt. His lean body gleamed in the light. He had a scar on his left ribcage.

"Where did that come from?" Lily asked. She got out of bed and walked over to James. The scar looked like it had come from a deep cut, one that hadn't been healed very well.

"Oh, it was nothing," James said.

"What?" Lily asked, running her fingers over his skin. "James, how can you call this nothing? I can tell it was deep."

"It was nothing," James repeated. He stepped away from her to sit on the edge of the bed.

Lily crossed her arms, looking down at him. "I can't believe this," she said, shaking her head.

"What?" James said, raising his voice. "What do you want me to say, Lily?"

"Why don't you tell me the truth?" Lily asked. "Why don't you tell me how you really got that?"

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter how I got it, okay? I was doing stuff for the Order. For the war. For you."

"Oh, don't say that was for me," Lily said, shaking her head. "Don't say that any of it was for me. If you wanted–"

"I'm fighting to keep you safe!" James yelled. "Every single Death Eater out there wants you dead, Lily–"

"I didn't ask you to take out every Death Eater," Lily yelled back. She felt like she was on fire. "Maybe Sirius did, maybe Dumbledore did, but I–no. I asked you to be a good husband, James."

"I'm not a good husband?" James repeated. He looked livid.

"No, that's not what I'm saying!" Lily said. "I'm saying that's what I've asked of you, not to spend all of your time with the Order–"

"Part of being a good husband is making sure you're safe," James said. "I'm protecting you with everything in me!"

"Everything, huh?" Lily yelled. She fought back tears. "This is everything you have. You _could _come home at night and eat my dinners. You _could _be here with me instead of with Sirius! It's been two weeks since you came back soaking wet–"

"You don't even know what happened!" James shouted.

"Because you won't _tell _me!" Lily yelled.

James fell silent, fuming. He grabbed his hair and pulled at it. "It's not like you've asked–" he began.

"I don't want to harass you," Lily said. "I mean, if you don't want to talk about it . . ."

"I don't, or I would have already," James said.

Lily stared at him, tears filling her eyes. She tried to fight them back, but they fell down her cheeks, exposing her vulnerability to him.

James sighed, a look of regret coming onto his face. "Don't cry," he said.

"I want you to trust me," Lily said. "I tell you everything, James. Is it because. . ."

"I just. . .can't," James said. "I can't, I don't want to. . .I don't want it to be. . ."

Lily nodded, choking back sobs. She couldn't force him to let her in. She thought of that night she had found him by the Great Hall, and he had told her that his secrets were Sirius's and Remus's and Peter's secrets as well. She married James, just James. "Fine," she said. "I'm going to bed."

James sighed again. He looked like he was about to say something as Lily crawled into bed, but he fell silent.

He got into bed and turned the lamp off. She let out silent tears, but soon she couldn't hold back a sob. James turned onto his side and wrapped an arm around her. Lily closed her eyes, shuddering breaths coming out of her as she tried not to cry too loudly.

"I'm scared," James whispered. "I don't want you to think I'm a monster."

"James, I would never," Lily said. She turned onto her back and looked up at him. "I think you're amazing."

James paused. She felt his hand rise and fall on her stomach as she breathed in and out. "I feel like. . .like I'm losing myself," he said.

Lily touched his hand. "Well, I'm your other half, and you'll always have me."

* * *

James loved waking up next to Lily. Sometimes it was how he motivated himself to sleep, because he knew he would wake up and Lily would be lying next to him. Their alarm went off, and Lily usually woke up first. She would gently shake him awake and smile at him as he came back into the real world.

This morning, James woke up first. The alarm was going to go off in just a minute. He stared at his wife, his cheeks pink, her lips slightly open. He stood up and walked over to the dresser. The alarm went off, and he heard Lily stir.

"Good morning," he said softly.

"Hey," Lily said, yawning.

James opened the top dresser door. Maybe it would be easier if he didn't have to see her face. "I killed a man."

Silence answered him.

He closed his eyes. "Sirius and I left to find a few Death Eaters. We did find them, and then things got out of hand. We got information from them, but I killed one, and Sirius killed the other. I thought it would be more satisfying, to tell you the truth. They were involved in the Liverpool attack, and they kept insulting you. I mean, they were Death Eaters. But it doesn't change the fact that we murdered them."

James ran a hand through his hair, letting out a shaky breath. There it was, out in the open. Now she knew.

There was a moment of silence, and then he felt her behind him. She wrapped his arms around him, leaning her head on his back. The back of his throat burned. "I love you, James," she said.

Hot tears poured down his face. He took off his glasses, burying his face in his hands. She squeezed him tightly, her small frame against his.

* * *

Remus was pleasantly surprised when James showed up. To be honest, he hadn't seen much of James in the past month. Remus went to Egypt with Dorcas for two weeks. There was Auror training and whatever the Order had them do.

"What's going on?" James asked Remus.

"Nothing much," Remus said with a shrug. "How's it going?"

James sighed a little bit. "All right, I guess. How was Egypt?"

"Interesting," Remus said. "The goblins don't want to take sides."

"Little buggers." James paused. "I need to talk to Sirius. Is he here?"

Remus nodded. "He's in his room, but he's got someone in there with him."

"Who?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "The second girl I've seen since I got back. I think he's sleeping away his stress. I think Peter's going to say he can't bring anymore girls unless he introduces someone to him."

"That's a good deal," James said absentmindedly. "I'm just going to see if he'll talk to me."

"Good luck," Remus said with a nod.

* * *

Sirius and Rebecca were in the middle of a heavy snogging session when there was a knock on the door. "Sirius, it's James," the voice on the other side of the door said.

"Sod off," Sirius said, pulling away from Rebecca for a moment.

She giggled, pulling him back for another kiss.

"Come on, I need to talk to you," James said.

"No," Sirius said, putting his hands in Rebecca's hair.

There was a moment when they were left alone, and then James walked in. Rebecca broke away from Sirius, blushing.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"I don't want to do these stupid missions anymore," James said. "I need to get home to Lily by ten o'clock. So, if you or Dumbledore need me, I'm leaving at ten."

Sirius didn't respond at first. He wasn't sure why James thought this so important to interrupt him. "Ten?" he repeated.

"Yeah," James said. He glanced at Rebecca. "I just. . .I don't. . .want to be afraid of what I can do."

"Okay," Sirius said, nodding.

James held eye contact for a moment, then nodded. "I'll see you later," he said. He smiled at Rebecca. "Nice to meet you."

He shut the door behind him. Sirius grabbed his wand and locked the door. "Albus Dumbledore?" Rebecca asked.

"No, his brother," Sirius said with a smirk.

* * *

_Marlene,_

_War officially sucks. I guess James and I had our first fight last week. It wasn't so great, but it's getting better. He's getting home by ten. He got me a beautiful diamond necklace for Valentine's Day, too. Not that gifts can just make everything better. Gosh, that sounds horrible, but I didn't mean it like that. I love him so much. It's just this bloody war._

_Anyways, how's Greg? I know you said you two didn't have any chemistry, but did he get you anything for Valentine's Day? _

_I miss you already. I can't wait until you graduate. _

_Love,_

_Lily_

* * *

"What do mean James isn't coming?" Gideon asked.

Sirius looked at the clock the Prewett twins had in their living room. "He's got a curfew now," he said, smirking.

Fabian raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Sirius sighed. "He's not coming, okay?" He stood up and grabbed his coat. "I'll get Remus."

The twins exchanged glances. Sirius rolled his eyes. "What?" he asked.

Gideon paused, holding Fabian's eye contact. They were fraternal, but anyone could tell they were brothers. Their curly orange hair was identical as well as their stocky build. Fabian's face was a bit narrower, and Gideon's lips were closer to his nose. "It's just that Remus is so. . .timid," Gideon said.

Sirius grinned. "You've just got to rub him the wrong way."

"He's been with us on our last three trips," Fabian replied.

Sirius walked over to the calendar in the kitchen. "Tomorrow's the full moon. Trust me."

Sirius Apparated home. It took a while to convince Remus, who claimed he might throw up if he did anything too dangerous. "It's just a small raid," Sirius said. "Nott and Avery, that's all."

"There's three of you, right?" Remus asked. "Why do you need me?"

"Come on, we always go with four," Sirius said.

Remus sighed, then walked over to his shoes. "You owe me."

"I'll buy you some treacle tarts."

* * *

It was a small cottage outside of Manchester. They walked through the dense woods. "How do you know they're here?" Remus asked Fabian in a whisper.

"Nott is always Apparating here," Fabian whispered back.

The moon loomed over them, almost full. The night seemed darker than usual, like it had jumped ahead five hours with them. The four of them moved quietly, their wands out. Sirius felt the adrenaline pump through his veins, expecting a battle.

They reached a small clearing. The cabin didn't have any lights on. Gideon made a motion to move forward, but they were attacked from the right and the left.

There was a flash of green light, then a loud snarl followed by a thud. Sirius yelled out a Stunning Spell towards a dark figure. It hit someone, who fell to the ground. Before Sirius knew what had happened, a spell hit him in the back and he fell, immobilized. Remus shouted the counter curse quickly. Sirius scrambled for his wand. One of the twins–Fabian–was yelling, trying to fight off the dog.

Sirius morphed into his Animagus Form and attacked the dog, freeing Fabian. The two creatures became a swirling mass of paws and hair. Sirius felt his senses change and shift as the transformation became complete. He bit down on the dog's neck, drawing blood.

The dog yelped, kicking him away. He fought back for a moment, then ran away in fear.

Sirius turned back into his human form. He spit blood out of his mouth and grabbed his wand. He looked at the others. Fabian had two bite wounds and various scratch marks, but he was dueling a man with Remus. Gideon was dueling the second man. Sirius searched for the man he had Stunned, then tied him up with ropes. He jumped into the duel with Gideon.

The two of them finally Stunned the Death Eater they were fighting. They turned to see Fabian crouching against a tree and Remus against the final Death Eater. The Death Eater disarmed Remus in a moment of distraction. Remus only hesitated for a moment, then tackled the man down. He tried to hold onto his wand, but Remus began punching him in the face. The man had no choice but to begin fighting back with his body. He first kicked Remus in the stomach, knocking him back. It wasn't enough, though; Remus slammed the man up against a tree and punched him in the stomach.

"I told you," Sirius said, smiling as he and Gideon watched Remus fight the man.

Remus finally got a hold of the man's wand and broke it in two. The man yelled in anger, striking out, but Remus ducked just in time. He swung back with another punch, and the Death Eater fell to the ground.

Remus stood, panting. Even with just the moonlight, Sirius could see the blood on his face and his fists. "Let's get them inside," Remus said, wiping his brow.

Fabian limped, a bite on his leg. The other dog had disappeared.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. . .but did you change into a dog?" Gideon asked.

"Uh, yeah," Sirius said. "Surprise."

"You're an Animagus?" Fabian asked, his eyes wide.

"That's right," Sirius said, dragging one of the Death Eaters to the cabin.

Remus broke through the locking charms, and they walked into the small cottage. He went into one of the doors, and they heard running water. Fabian limped into the bathroom after him, groaning. Sirius and Gideon took the three men into the sitting room, piling them by the couch.

Remus called Fabian into the bathroom. Sirius glanced around the cottage. The living room looked impersonal, a few pieces of furniture the only thing that showed someone may be living here. Sirius walked into the kitchen and checked the cupboards and fridge. There were a few plates and silverware, and a jug of milk in the fridge.

Gideon came out of the bedroom, shaking his head. "Nothing in there. Let's Disapparate."

"Right," Sirius said. Remus and Fabian looked better. He looked at the three men: Nott, Avery, and a third that was unfamiliar to Sirius. "I'll take Nott. New headquarters?"

Gideon nodded. Sirius took Nott's wrist firmly, and tried to Disapparate. Instead, it felt like he ran straight into a brick wall. Blinking, he shook his head as his vision slowly cleared. "It's–I think there are wards up," he said.

"What?" Remus asked. "I thought you said he Apparated here all the time."

"He does," Fabian said. He took Avery's arm and also tried to Disapparated. He looked how Sirius must have a moment ago–like he had tried to go through the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 fifteen minutes too late. "Shit. Should we take them back outside?"

Gideon went to the door, then froze when the doorknob wouldn't move. "It's locked."

Sirius stood up, fearing the worst. The windows were locked, too. The four of them tried all the spells they could think of, and Fabian actually kicked one of the windows, but nothing worked.

"We walked right into a trap!" Remus exclaimed.

"Thank you, Mr. Obvious," Sirius said.

Remus glared at him, as though this were his fault. Sirius was about to say something when Fabian stepped in. "All right," he said. "Let's wake one of them up."

Sirius looked at the three men in disgust. "Nott?" he asked. The others nodded, and he waved his wand, "_Ennervate_."

Nott stirred awake. He looked around, glaring at the four of them.

Sirius crouched down in front of him. "Nott, I'm sure you're aware of the fact that we're locked in here."

His facial expression didn't change; the same look of disgust stayed on his narrow face, making him look even more unattractive.

"So, what happens next?" Sirius asked. "Your friends come to save you? Should we be expecting a bunch of ugly Death Eaters?"

Nott said nothing. Instead, he spit in Sirius' face. Sirius clenched his teeth, wiping it off of him. "Charming," he said quietly.

Sirius stood up. He paced a little bit, the silence stretching out. He looked at Remus. His arms were crossed, and there were bags under his eyes. Sirius turned to Nott. "There's a werewolf in this room," he said. "Tomorrow is full moon, and if you don't let us go, he'll either kill us or turn us into werewolves."

"You think I don't know that?" Nott snarled.

"Ah, so you're being the martyr?" Sirius asked. "You're willing to face a werewolf for the great You-Know-Who?"

"We won't be here."

Gideon walked over to Sirius, dropping his voice. "We need to send Patroni to the Order," he said.

Sirius nodded. "Go do it in the bedroom."

Gideon nodded to the two others, and the three of them went to the bedroom. Nott's eyes followed them.

"Have you ever seen a werewolf?" Sirius asked quietly. "You ever gone up against one and tried to defend yourself?"

Nott slowly looked up at Sirius and shook his head. "You're in too deep, kid. How old are you, eighteen?"

"Close," Sirius said shortly.

"You really want to die?" Nott chuckled. "It doesn't matter; you will soon, anyway. Anyone who fights against Lord Voldemort will die."

Sirius knew–or perhaps hoped–this wasn't true, but he thought about the people that had died so far, and wondered who might be next. He thought of the Prewetts, his friends, and the rest of the Order members. "So, who's coming to get you?" he asked Nott.

Nott chuckled again and shook his head. Sirius sighed. He wasn't going to be of any good. He waved his wand, "_Stupefy_."

The others came in from the bedroom. "Did it work?" Sirius asked.

"As far as we can tell," Fabian said. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. "I wonder how long it will be until they get here."

"Who did you tell?"

"Dorcas, Caleb, and Edgar," Gideon answered.

"Not James?" Sirius asked.

"You said he had a curfew," Gideon said.

"Not anymore," Sirius said. He waved his wand and sent his Patronus to James.


	12. Chapter 12: Sacrifice

**Title: **Glass Hearts

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary (of chapter): **James and Lily to the rescue!

* * *

A loud bark made Lily jolt awake. Sirius' Patronus, the large dog, stood in front of their bed. It lit up the dark room. "James, we're trapped in the cottage Nott has been Apparating to," the dog said in Sirius' voice. "Come quick."

James stirred, mumbling. Lily got up out of bed as the Patronus slowly dissipated. "Sirius said they're trapped in some cottage," she told James.

"What?" James sat up, suddenly awake. "What cottage?"

"He said the one Nott keeps Apparating to," Lily said.

Recognition dawned on his face, and he jumped out of bed. Lily watched him run for his jeans, and it only took her a moment to make up her mind. "I'm coming with you," she said.

"What?" James said, tripping over the foot of his pants. "No, Lily, just stay here."

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm coming." She grabbed a pair of her own jeans and stripped off her pajamas.

"Lily, you've only been in a few battles–" James began.

"I'm going with you," Lily said again.

James receded into silence, fuming. The two of them got dressed quickly. Lily pulled her hair up into a ponytail. "Lily, I don't want you to come," James said.

"I'm _coming_, James!" Lily said, glaring at him.

"Fine," James said. "Let's go to the headquarters first, that's where we meet before leaving."

Lily nodded; James certainly knew more about the protocol of these things. She thought of the last time she had fought: New Year's Eve at The Leaky Cauldron, against Bellatrix Lestrange with James and Dorcas, and she had been hit with a Cruciatus, and she could still remember the pain. It seemed like it was still with her.

At the new headquarters, the basement of a deserted store front in Diagon Alley, Dorcas was already waiting. "Hey," she said. "You got the message?"

"Yeah," James said.

Dorcas glanced at Lily. "I can't believe Remus is there."

"What?" James asked.

"Yeah," Dorcas said. "He was the one who sent the message to me."

Lily looked at her watch. Along with the time and date, it had the lunar calendar. The moon was almost full. She felt sick all of a sudden. Was that their plan? How could they have known that Remus would be there?

Caleb Dearborn joined them, and a moment later, Edgar Bones. They had gotten their messages from the Prewett twins, who seemed to usually be the ones with whom Sirius went. They waited for an extra minute, pacing around tensely. "Let's go," Edgar said. "If anyone else comes, they'll have to find us."

James explained where the cottage was, and he took Lily's hand before they Disapparated.

They were in a forest, the light of the stars blotted out by the trees' leaves. The light of the almost-full moon fell on them, however, casting shadows around them. Lily took out her wand and stayed close to James as they crept forward. There was a clearing ahead, and a cottage with some of the lights on.

"That must be it," Dorcas whispered from Lily's left. "Should we all go at once?"

"Are there any Death Eaters with them?" Caleb asked.

"Not sure," James said.

"Gideon said they had three," Edgar said.

"I'll go first," James said. "Lily, stay with me."

He walked towards the cottage quietly, his wand in front of him. He reached the front door and cautiously went for the doorknob. Lily could hear her blood pumping in her ears. She didn't know why; if there were only three Death Eaters, then they were outnumbered. Nine against three.

James pushed the door open easily. Lily would have nightmares for weeks about what could have been: the door opening, a flash of green light, and James' body falling back into her.

"James!"

It was Sirius. He dashed forward. "Thank gods." He looked over his shoulder. "Come on, let's get them out of here and to the headquarters."

Lily could feel her body relaxing; it would be fine. But then there were _pops! _all around them, and the new arrivals didn't wait. There were spells flying, and Lily had no choice but to react. Sirius and the others came out of the house and joined the fight. Lily wasn't sure how many there were–it seemed like a lot. She fought by James' side, the two of them working together, the spells whizzing through the air.

When still in school and young–although she should be considered young now, she felt years older–Lily was sure she would freeze up in duels, wouldn't be of any use. Instead, she felt the adrenaline rush through her veins, felt the spells roll off of her tongue, felt the magic leave her body and course through the air towards her opponent. She could see how James, and especially Sirius, could become addicted to this feeling, and never want to stop. It was terrifying and beautiful, feeling so alive and knowing you could be dead at any moment.

There was a spell thrown, and James was thrown back into the cottage with force. He fell to the ground, blood coming from the side of his head. Lily looked at her opponent, ready to yell a spell, but suddenly, her wand slipped from her fingers. She reached for it, but it flew into the Death Eater's outstretched hand. Her breath caught in her throat, and she wondered what James would do in this situation.

She recognized the man now: Lucius Malfoy. He smirked. "Such a simple spell, but it can change the entire duel."

Lily wanted to say it, but something held it back. _Please_.

"Don't," she said instead. _I'm young. Don't kill me. I'm not a threat. I'm just a girl–I just heal people when you guys hurt them. Is that so bad?_

"Lily!" she heard.

And it was Caleb Dearborn, jumping in between them, and attacking Malfoy. Lily spun around, crouching down to James' level. "James." Her voice sounded odd. "James, please wake up."

She looked around; people were still fighting. She couldn't see Malfoy or Caleb in the blur of people. She took James' wand and pushed his hair back so she could see the wound. It always felt clumsy doing magic with another's wand, but she managed to heal it up. She hesitated before waking him up, but then said, "_Ennervate_."

James woke up, groaning. "My head." He looked around, blinking. "Lily, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Lily looked over her shoulder. The battle seemed to be dying down, but she couldn't be sure. "We should get out of here."

"Where are Sirius and Remus?" James asked, stumbling to his feet. "Where's my wand?"

"Here," Lily said, placing it in his hand.

Malfoy and Caleb suddenly reappeared, and Caleb was losing the duel. James leapt forward, and Lily watched, feeling helpless.

"Lily," someone said. Sirius stood next to her, panting. "Help me pull these guys outside."

Inside the cottage, there were three unconscious men sitting by the couch. "I don't have my wand," Lily said.

Sirius levitated one of them towards the door. "Oh–where is it?"

"Malfoy has it," she said.

He flew Nott out quickly, then Avery.

The door suddenly slammed shut, and the third Death Eater hit his head on the door. "Oh, shit," Sirius said. He flicked his wand, and the man flew towards the couch, but missed, and hit his head on the coffee table. Sirius ran to the door, but it was locked. He yelled, but Lily knew everyone was fighting.

As Sirius pounded on the door, shouting desperately, Lily saw a snake of fire burst in through the window to his left. "Sirius!" she yelled.

He darted back, brandishing his wand. "_Aguamenti_!" he yelled, but the stream of water seemed to evaporate in midair.

"Fiendfyre!" Lily shouted. She grabbed Sirius' arm, and they fled to the bedroom, but the flames had moved fast, and they were closing in. The heat surrounded her, the smoke suffocating her. Sirius pulled her closer than he ever would have in a normal situation, and Lily felt his heart pounding, and this is the way she would die, his strong arms around her.

There was a sound of breaking glass, and then someone yelled her name. Sirius pushed her out of the window, and her shirt got caught. Sirius jumped out after her, grabbed her arm, and they Disapparated.

They slammed onto the floor of the headquarters, and Lily nearly tripped, but Sirius caught her. Panting, Lily fought back tears. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Caleb," Sirius said.

He had saved her life twice that night.

"Where's–where's everyone else?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, but that Fiendfyre will kill anything in sight until the caster puts it out," Sirius said.

Lily felt her heart slam up against her chest. She hardly had time to horrify herself when more people joined them–Remus and Edgar. She threw herself at Remus, letting her tears go. She pulled away, shaking him by his shoulders. "Where's James?" she asked.

"I don't know," Remus said, his eyes wide.

There was another _pop! _and Lily spun around. It was James, and his eyes flew around the room frantically before they fell on her. She ran to him and had never felt so glad to be in his arms. "Oh, god," she said, crying. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me, too," James said. He held her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

Dorcas and the Prewett twins joined them, their clothes singed. Their faces were solemn. "Caleb," Gideon said quietly, shaking his head. "He didn't make it."

Lily held back more tears, holding onto James.

* * *

Marlene's friends thought she read the paper too much. Her roommate Leslie told her to just enjoy school while she could. The front page on February 26th, however, was the talk of Hogwarts. Caleb Dearborn, an Auror, had been killed by Fiendfyre when trying to raid a suspected Death Eater hub. An unnamed Death Eater had also been killed. No other Aurors were mentioned except for Mad-Eye Moody, and Marlene wondered if anyone she knew had been there.

She cut out the article and put it in the journal she had for the war. Articles, mostly, but things she learned from overhearing conversations, the night of New Year's Eve, what her dad said. She began to flip through it, but then felt immensely tired–not physically, but mentally.

Instead, Marlene put her journal in the bottom of her trunk. After making sure none of her roommates were around, she pulled out the Marauder's Map. She revealed its contents, and let her eyes run over the familiar names. Regulus Black was in the Slytherin common room for once. Usually, he was lurking on the seventh floor.

A name caught her eyes–_Christopher McKinnon_. What was her dad doing in Dumbledore's office? She wiped the map clean and pocketed it. Maybe if she casually wandered around the second floor, she might see him. If he wasn't planning on visiting her already.

Marlene walked down a couple floors. She wished Easter was earlier this year; she needed the break. Her NEWT classes were intense. She had a couple hours of homework everyday.

She approached the gargoyle which guarded the Headmaster's office. She had never been there; she knew this only from the map. She walked towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, whistling. This year, they had a fairly stable witch in her thirties teaching them. She was a bit dry, but at least they were going over NEWT-level Defense.

She heard voices behind her. She turned and saw Mad-Eye Moody and her father arguing. For some reason, she stepped behind a column to listen to them.

". . .wouldn't have died if we had been there," she heard her father saying.

"We have no idea if that's true," Moody said. "Chris, the–Dumbledore's men do what Aurors can't."

"What do they do?" her dad asked angrily. "They're just a bunch of kids. How can you let your own trainees run around like that?"

James and Sirius?

"Look, everyone's fighting against Voldemort," Moody said.

"Eavesdropping?"

Marlene jumped, spinning around. She was surprised she didn't scream. Regulus Black stood there, smirking at her. "What's the interesting topic?" he asked.

"Nothing," Marlene said, flushing. She would have to make her presence known, or Regulus would hear their conversation, as well. She turned away from him, walking towards the two men. "Dad!"

Moody and her father cut off abruptly. "Marlene," her dad said, looking surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Marlene asked. She looked over her shoulder, but Regulus was walking away from them.

"Just visiting Dumbledore," her father said, giving her a hug. "How's school going?"

"All right," Marlene said with a shrug. "Hello, Mr. Moody."

"Nice to see you, Marlene," Moody said gruffly. "Chris, I should get going. I'll see you at the office tomorrow."

"Okay," Chris said, sounding tired. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but let the man walk away. "So, Marlene. . ."

Marlene gave him a tense smile. She got a sudden idea. "Hey, when was the last time mum made apple pie?" she asked.

"Not for a while. . .why?"

"Because the house-elves here make the best pie," Marlene said quietly. She took his arm. "Come on, I'll show you."

"How do you. . ."

Marlene managed to avoid his questions, just saying her friends showed her. She took him to the kitchens and introduced the house-elves to her dad. They sat down at the end of one of the tables and waited for the apple pie.

"I read that article today," Marlene said. "Did you know him?"

"Yeah," Chris replied. "He was in Doug's year."

Marlene frowned, looking down at the table. "Who else was there?"

"I don't know," Chris said tersely. "Fiendfyre's a dangerous thing."

It was silent for a moment, then Chris cleared his throat. "So, are you intent on becoming an Auror?"

Marlene silently nodded.

Chris locked eyes with his daughter, and she could see the sadness in them. "I'm really proud of you, Marlene. I always will be."

"Thanks," Marlene said. "I'm really proud to have you as my dad."

* * *

The memorial service was quiet. It was cloudy, but there was no rain. There was a large group of people. James wasn't sure if they were friends and family of Caleb or people respectful of a fallen Auror. Caleb's mother and his brother Caradoc sat in the front row, silent as an orchestra played.

James glanced over his shoulder towards Lily. She was crying silently. James wanted to be sitting next to her instead of Dorcas, but, as usual, he sat by the other Aurors-in-training. Sirius' hands kept fidgeting; James wanted to reach over and make them stop moving.

Afterwards, people moved around, speaking quietly to one another. James found Lily. "I want to talk to his family," she said quietly.

They walked to Caradoc and Mrs. Dearborn. Lily seemed to grow more and more tense as they came closer. Caradoc avoided her eyes. Mrs. Dearborn shook their hands, a small smile on her face. James wanted to tell her how many times he had fought with Caleb and how brave he was.

"Caradoc, I'm. . .really sorry," Lily said.

Caradoc hesitated. "I heard he saved you and Sirius," he said quietly.

Lily nodded, looking down to the ground. James touched her arm lightly.

"Well. . ." Caradoc trailed off. He put his hands in his pockets. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course," James said. "If you need anything. . ."

Caradoc gave him a grateful look. They moved along, letting others speak to the family. They moved to the edge of the crowd. Sirius and Peter joined them. "Man," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"I want to go home now," Lily told James.

"Okay," James said. "We'll see you guys later."

"See you," Peter said in a small voice.

* * *

The light from his wand felt onto the briefcase, hat, and dead roses. Sirius' cigarette smoke floated toward Remus' nostrils, making him want to cough. "Why are you smoking?" he asked.

"Why not?" Sirius asked.

Remus decided not to reply, and looked down at the trunk of the car. "What do you think?"

Sirius walked around to the driver's seat, gazing down at the dead Muggle woman. Remus closed the trunk and came to join him. Her window was halfway down, and there was a look of terror on her face. It was obviously the Killing Curse; there were no other signs of injury.

"Why would they kill her?" Sirius asked.

They stood on the side of a street, not far from the Potters' house. They had been invited over for dinner, but their plans had changed. "Why not?" Remus said quietly. He saw Sirius look at him out of the corner of her eyes.

There was a moment of silence as they looked down at the woman. Remus finally reached forward and closed her eyes. "Moony," Sirius said. He pointed to the backseat, walking around Remus.

He opened the door, and Remus heard a small whimpering. Sirius crouched down. "Hey, it's okay," he said softly.

Remus saw what Sirius was speaking to; a small boy, crouched behind the front seat. He had obviously been crying. He looked up at Remus and Sirius warily. Remus pocketed his wand, frowning. "What happened?" Sirius asked.

The boy held back tears. "She–we got in the car, and she saw some men, and told me to get down, and they were yelling at her. . ." he sniffled. "Calling her names. . .and then, they yelled something and left. . .she's dead, isn't she?"

Sirius nodded quietly. The boy's bottom lip quivered, and he looked down.

"Come on, let's go call the police," Sirius said.

"Who?" the boy asked. He climbed out of the car. "What about the Aurors?"

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other. Sirius took the last drag from his cigarette, then put it out on the street. "What do you know about Aurors?" he asked.

The boy shrugged. "They protect us from Death Eaters."

"Where's your dad?" Remus asked.

"He's at work," the boy said.

"Well, let's go to those Aurors," Sirius said. "You ever done Side-Along Apparition?"

Half an hour later, they sat in the Ministry of Magic while Christopher McKinnon, one of the Aurors on night duty, spoke with the boy. Sirius looked at Remus. "How long you think this will go on?"

"They should be done soon," Remus replied.

"I mean the war," Sirius said.

Remus met his eyes. "I don't know. Until You-Know-Who's gone."

"Right," Sirius said. "But they say no one survives after seeing him."

"What about Halloween night?"

"Yeah." Sirius looked thoughtful. "It can't be that hard, right? A simple Killing Curse. If there were a huge group of us and we all swarmed him, one of us would have to get a good one."

Remus knew this logic should make sense, but it was Voldemort. "How do we find him?"

Sirius sighed. "I don't know. That's what we should be trying to do."

"You think so?" Remus asked.

"We're always worried about his stupid followers. I mean, I've never even seen the bastard."

"Me, neither."

"What if we did some kind of bait thing?"

Remus looked at him. He could see where this was going: Sirius wanted to do something reckless, something _in the name of the war_, something against Voldemort. Why not a suicide mission? Remus slowly shook his head. "He wouldn't fall for it."

"You don't think so?"

"No," Remus said firmly.

Christopher McKinnon came in. Both of them stood up. Remus remembered when he and his parents had gone to his house for the new year. Chris gave them a tight smile. "Thanks for bringing him in," he said. "We sent a few to investigate. Someone's gone for her body, and his father's going to come soon. He's a Muggle. . .that may be why they killed her."

There was a moment of silence. "Thank you," Chris repeated. "You guys can go home if you want."

"You need anything else?" Sirius asked.

Chris paused. Remus knew he didn't view them as equals, as the Order did. He shook his head. "Goodnight." He walked back to the Auror cubicles, where the small boy sat, his head in his hands.

"Well," Remus said, "that's that."

They began to walked to the lift. "I don't think he likes us," Sirius said.

"We sent his daughter home drunk," Remus pointed out.

"She's of age!" Sirius exclaimed. He glanced over his shoulder, chuckling. "Do you still want to go to the Potters?"

Remus paused, watching the lift doors close. "We probably should," he said.

"Yeah," Sirius said with a sigh. He usually was eager to spend time with the Potters. It hadn't been a normal night, though, even though this sort of thing seemed to happen pretty often.


End file.
